Ukraine seeks investment partners for AI data center – digital minister

Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation aims to bolster its sovereign artificial intelligence infrastructure by luring investment firms to construct a substantial data center within the country, according to the Ministry's Minister of Digital Transformation, Oksana Ferchuk. Last summer, the Ministry unveiled its concept of "sovereign infrastructure," a term they apply to a small data center within their nation.

Ferchuk elaborated on this during a presentation at the Technovation conference, which took place as part of the Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF) in Kyiv on Tuesday. The Ministry intends to issue a tender for investment entities keen on constructing the aforementioned data center in Ukraine.

By possessing its own infrastructure, Ferchuk emphasized, Ukraine would be able to experiment not only with advanced models but also with other models designed to process relevant information. This development constitutes a crucial aspect of national sovereignty, including AI sovereignty, and serves to expedite progress in the field. In January 2027, the Ministry plans to officially introduce a national language model and a data corpus, a joint project with mobile operator Kyivstar.

Speaking on the Ministry's broader strategy, Ferchuk reiterated her commitment to expanding public services and enhancing the investment attractiveness of Diia City. This effort is aimed at drawing both Ukrainian and foreign investment. When discussing foreign investment, Ferchuk underscored the importance of participating in international markets.