You are all so bold.
anyway, moving on:
"(CNN) (historic news) The US and its allies have blocked or seized more than $58 billion worth of assets owned or controlled by sanctioned Russians in the past year as Western governments continue to dial up the pressure over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a joint statement from a multinational sanctions enforcement task force.
and in response:
(Al Jazeera) (current news) Putin signs decree to control two foreign firms’ assets in Russia. Move seen as sign that Moscow may take further action if Russian assets abroad are seized..."
This is the typical Russian response, albiet somewhat restrained, and should come as no surprise to anyone (like for like).
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Here is a bit of info on grain (credit: oakland institute). Basically what this information is outlining is what is on the various podcasts - The reason why they want Ukraine Grain to flow is not to feed people, but rather to make profit, and as more and more of Ukrainian land is gobbled up by the West, they are making more profit out of it. I welcome any counter views on this particular point.
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The fate of Ukraine’s agricultural sector is on shaky ground. Last year, the Oakland Institute reported that over 1.6 million hectares (ha) of land in Ukraine are now under the control of foreign-based corporations. Further research has allowed for the identification of additional foreign investments. Some estimates now bring the total of Ukrainian farmland controlled by foreign companies to over 2.2 million ha;1 however, research has also identified important grey areas around land tenure in the country, and who actually controls land in Ukraine today is difficult to ascertain.
The companies and shareholders behind foreign land acquisitions in Ukraine span many different parts of the world. The Danish "Trigon Agri," for example, holds over 52,000 ha(link is external). Trigon was established in 2006 using start-up capital from Finnish "high net worth individuals(link is external)." The company is traded in Stockholm (NASDAQ), and its largest shareholders include(link is external): JPM Chase (UK, 9.5 percent); Swedbank (Sweden, 9.4 percent); UB Securities (Finland, 7.9 percent); Euroclear Bank (Belgium, 6.6 percent); and JP Morgan Clearing Corp (USA, 6.2 percent).
The United Farmers Holding Company(link is external), which is owned by a group of Saudi Arabian investors, controls some 33,000 ha(link is external) of Ukrainian farmland through Continental Farmers Group PLC.
AgroGeneration, which holds 120,000 ha(link is external) of Ukrainian farmland, is incorporated in France, with over 62 percent(link is external) of its shares managed by SigmaBleyzer(link is external), a Texas-based investment company.
US pension fund NCH Capital holds 450,000 ha(link is external). The company began in 1993 and boasts being some of the earliest western investors(link is external) in Ukraine after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Over the past decade, the company has systematically leased out small parcels of agricultural land (around two to six hectares in size) across Ukraine, aggregating these into large-scale farms that now operate industrially. According to NCH Capital’s General Partner, George Rohr(link is external), the leases give the company the right to buy the currently-leased farmland once the moratorium on the sale of land in Ukraine is lifted.
Another subset of companies have Ukrainian leadership, often a mix of domestic and foreign investment, and may be incorporated in tax havens like Cyprus, Austria, and Luxembourg. Some of them are also led by Ukrainian oligarchs. For instance, UkrLandFarming(link is external) controls the country's largest land-bank, totalling 654,000 ha of land. 95 percent(link is external) of the shares of UkrLandFarming are owned by multi-millionaire Oleg Bakhmatyuk with the remaining five percent having been recently sold to Cargill. Similarly, Yuriy Kosiuk, Ukraine's fifth richest man(link is external), is the CEO of MHP, one of the country's largest agricultural companies, which holds over 360,000 ha(link is external) of farmland.
With the onset of the political crisis, several of these mostly Ukrainian-based companies have descended into crisis themselves. One example is Cyprus-incorporated Mriya Agro Holding, which holds a land-bank of close to 300,000 ha. In 2014, the company’s website (which is no longer available online) indicated that 80 percent of the shares of Mriya Agro Holding are/were owned by the Guta family (Ukrainian), who hold primary leadership positions in the company. The remaining 20 percent are/were listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
According to news sources, in summer 2014 the company defaulted on its payments(link is external) for two large Eurobonds, putting its future into question. The company first enlisted the support of US-based Blackstone Group(link is external) and Ukrainian-based Dragon Capital, both of whom withdrew support after only one month; and later, the international auditing and financial service firm, Deloitte(link is external). An international bondholder committee(link is external) was struck, comprised of several US and UK-based investment groups (including CarVal Investors(link is external) – Cargill’s investment arm), which together own over 50 percent of the debt owed on Mriya’s 2018 Eurobonds and 15 percent of the 2016 Eurobonds. The future of this firm is unclear with some sources suggesting(link is external) a risk of bankruptcy.
Other Ukrainian-owned companies incorporated in tax havens are also experiencing difficulties. Sintal Agriculture Public Ltd (based in Cyprus, traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as of 2008, and holding almost 150,000 ha of land) ceased trading in shares on January 29, 2014 "until further notice(link is external)" after bankruptcy proceedings(link is external) were initiated against the company. In 2013, its website (now also defunct) indicated that 36.3 percent of the company was free floating shares.
The potential bankruptcy of these corporations, and the involvement of Western investors in the crisis management, raises questions about the fate of the agricultural land they hold. At this time, it is not clear how control over the agricultural lands in question will be addressed and what the role of foreign companies and funds who have invested in these companies will be. However, if things progress in a similar way to neighboring Romania, foreign control of this land could transpire.
Romania has a similar story of dissolving collectivized farms, giving land titles to collective farm workers, and imposing a moratorium on the sale of agricultural land. Loopholes in the country’s national legislation have created opportunities for foreign control of land via bankruptcy proceedings. As documented by Judith Bouniol(link is external), the bankruptcy of national agribusinesses has provided a gateway for foreign control of Romania’s farmland.
It is far from clear if the same scenario could take place in Ukraine. However, this lesson from Romania emphasizes the importance of keeping close watch on these agricultural land deals. In addition, the murky situation around land ownership in Ukraine raises many questions. Perhaps the most important is whether the growing concentration of Ukrainian land in the hands of a few oligarchs and foreign corporations can benefit the country, its people, and its economy.
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same source:
February 21, 2023
War and Theft: The Takeover of Ukraine’s Agricultural Land, exposes the financial interests and the dynamics at play leading to further concentration of land and finance.
The total amount of land controlled by oligarchs, corrupt individuals, and large agribusinesses is over nine million hectares — exceeding 28 percent of Ukraine’s arable land. The largest landholders are a mix of Ukrainian oligarchs and foreign interests — mostly European and North American as well as the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia. Prominent US pension funds, foundations, and university endowments are invested through NCH Capital, a US-based private equity fund.
Several agribusinesses, still largely controlled by oligarchs, have opened up to Western banks and investment funds — including prominent ones such as Kopernik, BNP, or Vanguard — who now control part of their shares. Most of the large landholders are substantially indebted to Western funds and institutions, notably the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank.
Western financing to Ukraine in recent years has been tied to a drastic structural adjustment program that has required austerity and privatization measures, including the creation of a land market for the sale of agricultural land. President Zelenskyy put the land reform into law in 2020 against the will of the vast majority of the population who feared it would exacerbate corruption and reinforce control by powerful interests in the agricultural sector. Findings of the report concur with these concerns. While large landholders are securing massive financing from Western financial institutions, Ukrainian farmers — essential for ensuring domestic food supply — receive virtually no support. With the land market in place, amidst high economic stress and war, this difference of treatment will lead to more land consolidation by large agribusinesses.
The report also sounds the alarm that Ukraine’s crippling debt is being used as a leverage by the financial institutions to drive post-war reconstruction towards further privatization and liberalization reforms in several sectors, including agriculture.
This post was edited by ferdia on Apr 26 2023 05:25am