Ukraine will attract American lobbyists to advance agricultural reform. This is stated in the agreement published by the US Department of Justice. The text is at the disposal of RT. In accordance with the Law on Registration of Foreign Agents (FARA), on August 8, 2019, the agency received an agreement for registration, which was previously concluded by PJSC Agrarian Fund of Ukraine and the American lobbying firm Yorktown Solutions.

As noted in the document, the lobbying structure will provide “strategic consulting services in order to enhance interaction between PJSC AGRARIAN FUND and US commercial sector entities, as well as establish dialogue between relevant stakeholders from the USA and Ukraine focused on reform its agricultural sector. ”

The contract also noted other "strategic goals of the customer." Among them are “interaction with government agencies, which is also expected to include working with representatives of US government departments and relevant private sector organizations,” “identifying potential investors and commercial partners for the customer,” and “promoting the business reputation of the customer as a reliable partner among American businessmen. "

As noted in the document of the Ministry of Justice, 100% of the shares of the "Agrarian Fund" belong to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine. The contract was concluded on August 6 and will be valid until 2020. American lobbyists will receive $ 360 thousand for their services.

Worthy partners

Information on the activities of the company Yorktown Solutions, associated with Ukraine, appeared last year. Then the enterprise reported to the American government in work for Naftogaz and a number of other state-owned companies in Ukraine. A number of media in Ukraine and Russia at that time linked the contract with Naftogaz with the intention of the Ukrainian side to counteract attempts to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The contract, which included informing about the allegedly negative consequences of the Gazprom project, was signed by Yorktown Solutions and Naftogaz back in 2017.

Also, in the reports provided to the US Department of Justice, one can find evidence of the Yorktown Solutions work for the Ukrinmash company, which is part of the Ukroboronprom state concert, and Spetstekhnoexport, the state-owned self-supporting foreign trade enterprise (also part of Ukroboronprom).

It is worth noting that the president of Yorktown Solutions Daniel Weidich is closely associated with the US Republican Party. He previously served as an adviser to presidential campaigns of Senators Ted Cruise, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

  • Daniel Vaidich
  • © American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine

On the website of PJSC "Agrarian Fund" it appears that the company was founded in 2013 by order of the Government of Ukraine. Its current director, Andrei Radchenko, was appointed to this post by the decision of the Ukrainian government in 2015. The company notes that the purpose of its activities is to create favorable conditions for the development of agriculture and the functioning of the agricultural market in the country. In particular, the “Agrarian Fund”, according to the company itself, accounts for 20% of the domestic grain market in Ukraine.

  • The head of the board of the "Agrarian Fund" of Ukraine Andriy Radchenko
  • © minagro.gov.ua

The productivity of Ukrainian agricultural companies is very low, so Kiev is interested in attracting foreign investors to the country's agricultural sector. In addition, new technologies are vital for the sector. So commented on the intentions of the "Agrarian Fund" source RT in the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine.

“The government does not have money to support the agricultural sector, and producers do not have it either. Therefore, the authorities are interested in attracting American companies to the Ukrainian market. However, the American business is well aware of the problems in Ukraine, which is why it is necessary to hire lobbyists so that Ukrainian officials are finally heard, ”explained the source of RT.

In turn, Andrei Suzdaltsev, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and Politics at the Higher School of Economics at HSE, suggested in an interview with RT that the only thing Ukrainian officials could attract American investors to do was sell land.

“They need money. Under the previous government, everything was plundered, so that the last resource remained - the land. They believe that it should be sold, and Ukraine, by the way, is almost 9% of the total black earth of the planet, ”says Suzdaltsev. “The Americans are interested in agrarian reform, because Ukraine is a huge,“ greasy ”piece of land in Europe, and again such a chance is unlikely to come up.”

Preparing for the sale

According to RT sources in Ukraine, the attempts of the Agrarian Fund to use Washington lobbyists to advance the Ukrainian agrarian reform may also be connected with the previously announced plans of President Vladimir Zelensky to lift the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land.

On August 8, during a visit to Turkey, the head of state promised to carry out land reform by the end of this year and in 2020 to create a “market for 40 million hectares of land.” Earlier, on July 27, US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Walker named land reform among the priority topics that he discussed the day before with party leaders who passed the July 21 elections to the Verkhovna Rada.

A RT source in the European Solidarity party also noted that US companies would be interested in investing in Ukrainian agriculture only with an “open land market”.

“Zelensky agrees to give permission to sell Ukrainian lands as early as next year, although the country is not ready for this process. In Ukraine, there are no rules for the operation of the land market, there are no clearly defined boundaries of land plots, the land cadastre is very poorly filled. All this will lead to chaos. As far as I understand, foreign companies should help establish all the processes. Naturally, in return they can get the best Ukrainian sites. Selling land will bring a lot of money, increase pensions and salaries to state employees. Only this feast will not last long. The land in Ukraine may soon end, ”said a party representative Petro Poroshenko in a conversation with RT.

The RT source in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine agrees with such conclusions.

“In normal countries, the rules for doing this kind of business are hard-coded. For example, you can prohibit the use of certain pesticides, especially near settlements. In Ukraine, no one will control anything. Therefore, if in 10 years a desert forms here instead of fertile lands, then this will be a problem only for the country, ”the source said.

An RT source in the Batkivshchyna party says that Western and American companies are interested in buying land at a very low price from a low-income population.

“Nobody thinks about people. Then they will work for a penny on Western companies? This is the real price of Ukraine’s support for the EU and the USA, ”the source said.

  • Reuters
  • © Michael Buholzer

In turn, political analyst Vladimir Kornilov recalls that the issue of selling land and especially selling it to foreigners has always split Ukraine. Opponents of Zelensky can use the discontent of the population for their own purposes, the expert said.

“Foreign companies are already present on the Ukrainian agricultural market. But they always did not like the fact that at the same time they could not get the land into property, ”Kornilov noted in an interview with RT. - However, the introduction of the land market will cause riots by farmers, peasants, and rural residents. Given the fact that a number of oligarchs will advocate and sponsor directly opposing ideas, these riots can be actively warmed up.