Ukraine Reconstruction: Back To Basics For Global Grain And Steel

BusinessEnergyUkraine Reconstruction: Back To Basics For Global Grain And SteelByAriel Cohen,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Ariel Cohen is a D.C.-based contributor who covers energy and securityFollow AuthorMay 20, 2026, 09:00am EDTMYRONIVKA, UKRAINE - JULY 29: A stork flies above a wheat field as a combine harvester of TVK Seed agricultural company harvests wheat on July 29, 2022 not far from Myronivka, Ukraine. Commodity exports from Ukraine, one of the world's largest producers of wheat, corn and vegetable-oil, have been stalled since the Russian invasion on February 24 affected important port infrastructures. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)Getty ImagesUkraine’s post-war economic story will not initially be written by startups or fintech. It will be written in fields, furnaces, mines, pipelines, and ports (and drone production).That is because the sectors that once anchored the country’s export economy, agriculture, metallurgy, and mining, still provide the clearest path from wartime survival to sustained growth. Together, before the full-scale invasion, they accounted for roughly 20% of GDP and close to half of merchandise exports. Today, these sectors are damaged, undercapitalized, and operationally constrained. However, they also retain deep structural advantages: Ukraine has some of the world’s most fertile farmland; vast ore deposits, including iron, manganese, titanium, graphite, and uranium; and proximity to European markets. Last but certainly not least, it will have an enormous domestic reconstruction market.The central question for investors and policymakers is not whether Ukraine has assets. It does. The question is whether security, infrastructure, governance, and finance can be aligned fast enough to turn those assets into productive capital. The Return of Ukrainian Grain? Agriculture offers the clearest illustration of both Ukrainian resilience and its lost potential. The country’s farmer...