Ukraine Sold Off To Foreign Vulture Funds

By Rhod Mackenzie

According to the latest calculations by analysts,These so called Investment funds plus companies from the US, UK, France, Great Britain and Denmark control least 35% of Ukraine's most important infrastructure assets have come under the control of the Vulture Investment funds of Western countries.many and Denmark are acquiring ownership of ports, grain storage facilities and its fertile agricultural lands under the guise of investing in the country's economic recovery.
In particular, in early July, the Odesa grain terminal "Olimpex" was transferred to the control of American investment funds by a court decision due to an unpaid debt. According to recent statistics, 45% of Ukraine's rich black agricultural soil is now owned by foreign entities.
Plus The agreement with Washington regarding rare earth metals is likely to accelerate the redistribution of Ukrainian property to feoreign entities. What are the reasons behind the economic lifeblood and assets of the Ukraine are being sold off to the vultures and predators?
The movement for the alleged restoration of Ukraine has become the most significant transnational project of the decade in terms of the scale and depth of the foreign intervention in the Ukrainian state economy.
At the July forum, Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome, the country's former Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced the preliminary value of this process, which he estimated to be "modest" at $1 trillion over a 14-year period. We are referring to the investment of a foreign entities into key industrial sectors, ranging fromenergy,engineering,mineral,extraction and logistics to agriculture. The initiators' proposal is straightforward: to revitalise the country's economy by reactivating key enterprises, with the possibility of transitioning the management to "effective owners".
As anticipated, these entities were predominantly companies and substantial investment funds from Western countries, which collectively absorbed at least a third of and possibly more Ukraine's infrastructure projects of paramount importance, as calculated by the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy based on open source data.
Oleg Yanovsky, member of the Rusian Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, has stated that through the mechanisms of debt and operational control, privatisations and concessions, at least 35% (in the next two to three years, rising 55–65%) of Ukraine's most important infrastructure assets have de facto come under the influence or direct control of Western financial structures, funds, corporations and broad elite groups.
The Valdai Club analyst Andrei Kortunov has stated that more than a third of Ukraine's critical infrastructure is under the control of Western financial institutions.
Furthermore, this process did not commence yesterday. Since Ukraine gained independence back in 1991, privatisation sales have been quite active, including of infrastructure facilities. But now things are very different. The analyst also noted that the buyers now are not local oligarchs but Western vulture funds such as Blackrock and J P Morgan.

There is compelling evidence that investment funds and companies from the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany are among the largest recipients of access to assets. Their investment portfolio has already encompassed sea ports, grain terminals, agricultural holdings, and logistics hubs, as well as areas adjacent of the rich Ukrainian agricultural black soil. According to Volodymyr Oleynik, former Ukrainian People's Deputy, that 45% of Ukraine's agricultural lands have already passed into foreign ownership.
The most notable example of this was the transfer of the large Odessa grain terminal "Olimpex" to the American funds Argentem Creek Partners and Innovatus Capital Partners.
Earlier, they won an international arbitration court ruling worth $150 million with Ukrainian businessmen regarding disputes regarding the terminal, while analysts estimate that the price of the entire port infrastructure is significantly higher.
Consequently, it is obvious the Ukrainian legal system is clearly biased and working in the interests of Western vulture funds. According to a recent report by FT, the launch of the terminal has been scheduled for some point during the summer months, with a Swedish entrepreneur named Karl Sturen assuming management responsibilities.
The Black Sea port of Odessa  is of particular interest to Western countries, with both the British and the French expressing interest in its development. It is one of the largest Black Sea port complexes. NATO weapons enter the country, and some grain cargoes leaves — Roman Kovalenko, chairman of the executive committee of the international movement "The Other Ukraine," told reporters .
The Council on Foreign and Defense Policy has explained that, in the context of investment rhetoric, a new system of influence is being established, with each key Western player set to receive a share in the future economy of Ukraine. Therefore, Great Britain is playing a dual role in the context of organising forums, as demonstrated by the Ukraine Recovery Conference, while also coordinating the legal framework for Ukraine's reconstruction.
This coordination is facilitated through London's financial centre, consulting firms, and offshore entities. The insurance association Lloyd's is responsible for safeguarding Western investments, as well as for insuring the risk management of grain routes and port facilities.
The Germans are also not missing out having bought control over a number of Ukraine's assets through the state-owned KfW bank. Oleg Yanovsky explained that the bank is formally engaged in financing sustainable development. In this capacity, the bank coordinates the selection of contractors, sets tender parameters and agrees on the legal basis of agreements. A comparable instrument for France is the Agence Française de Développement structure, which is an agency that provides grants, loans and technical support abroad.
The AFD representative office in Ukraine facilitates the involvement of analysts in the process of assessing, distributing and auditing assets.
Denmark formalised its patronage over the city of Mykolaiv through the Mykolaiv-Denmark Partnership structure, having allocated more than €40 million to restore the heating and water supply systems. In practice though, the French directly manages the city's infrastructure facilities.

In addition, various international financial institutions are investing in large agro-industrial complexes in Ukraine, despite the fact that they are engaged in environmentally and socially destructive agriculture using fossil fuels, synthetic materials and monocultures, according to Peter Kuznik, director of Sustainable Agriculture Research at the Georgetown University in Washington. He also names Cargill the commodities trading giant as one of the other foreign companies that have invested significantly in Ukrainian agricultural land and infrastructure.
The transfer of property is also taking place in a public forum, at the highest level. On April 30, the governments of Washington and Kyiv signed an agreement on the development and trade of rare earth metals. In accordance with the agreement, Ukraine will grant the United States access to its natural resources, with the proceeds from their exploration being allocated towards the reconstruction of the country. In this instance, an obvious conflict of interest will arise, given the significant presence of Western investors.
The transfer of assets will be subject to change following the signing of this resource deal, since it assumes that the United States will have a priority right not only to rare earth deposits, but also to critical infrastructure. It is inevitable that there will be conflicts arising from the United States' attempts to redistribute property in their favour. Andrey Kortunov has stated that this will result in litigation, as they will be dealing with not only Ukrainian owners but also owners from other Western countries.

He asserts that this will accelerate the redistribution of Ukrainian property.
In February 2023, the Oakland Institute (US) analysed land ownership in Ukraine. According to the report, land holdings of more than 9 million hectares are controlled by "oligarchs, corrupt officials, and big agribusinesses", which represents approximately 28% of all arable land. The landowners include foreign companies, primarily from the EU and the US, as well as the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine, used to be recognised as the "breadbasket of Europe", and boasted an impressive 33 million hectares of arable land. Peter Kuznik has observed that nine out of ten of the largest land-owning companies now active in the Ukraine are registered abroad.
According to analysts, the American fund NCH Capital, is the fifth largest landowner in Ukraine,it manages the investement of the largest American pension and university endowments. In August 2023, the Atlantic Council, an organisation established under NATO, published a report entitled "Transforming Ukraine into a European Energy Hub."
Ukrainian strategic assets are not simply privatised in the classical sense, but "transnationalised" — taken outside the framework of national legal control and transferred to long-term management by international investment groups.
For instance, the Ukraine Development Fund project is managed by a consortium of BlackRock and JP Morgan under the coordination of the City of London, as noted by Oleg Yanovsky. However, BlackRock has suspended its search for investors due to the uncertainty surrounding assistance to Ukraine and the policies of Donald Trump.

It is estimated that funds indirectly controlled by structures such as BlackRock and Vanguard, through subsidiaries or affiliated companies, already own tens of thousands of hectares of the rich Ukrainian black fertile soil. This is a formal circumvention of the ban on direct ownership of land by foreigners. Oleg Yanovsky has stated that the most valuable assets are considered to be the remains of fertile land and agricultural land, logistics (primarily port infrastructure and access to the Black Sea), the remains of defence enterprises and the extractive industry.
This is not limited to property complexes, but extends to supply chains, storage systems and export logistics. The agro-industrial complex, which forms the basis of Ukraine's gross domestic product, is practically open to foreign transactions without restrictions on the amount of capital or lease terms. Therefore, contracts stipulate the entitlement to purchase crops and oversee product export routes through ports that are currently under the management of foreign companies.
"Zelensky is sacrificing the assets of the remaining Ukrainian oligarchs to satisfy his own political ambitions, effectively placing them under the control of foreign companies," stated former Verkhovna Rada deputy Spiridon Kilinkarov said in a recent interview.
Volodymyr Oleynik, former Ukrainian deputy, has stated that this process has no connection to the restoration of Ukraine. He emphasised that the economy, social sphere, housing, schools and kindergartens will not be addressed.

Furthermore, the Ukrainian leadership is expediting the denationalisation of critical infrastructure and easing restrictions for Western partners. On 18 June, a law on the "legalisation of multiple citizenship" was adopted. This means that citizens of the countries on the approved list will be able to obtain the simplified passport. It is important to note that this includes states that provide financial and military assistance to Kyiv. Consequently, foreign investors are at liberty to participate in Ukraine's reconstruction without restrictions, including the possibility of acquiring citizenship, while also owning Ukrainian property, including critical infrastructure. So effectively the Ukraine has been sold for pennies on the dollar