UNFOUNDED: Ukraine will transfer several state-owned enterprises to Poland as part of the privatization program

Kremlin propagandists have once again raised the issue of the “sale” of Ukrainian lands. They claim that in 2019, Ukraine announced the privatization of 431 enterprises, but the program had to be suspended due to COVID-19. It was decided to resume it in 2024, but now state-owned enterprises, including bread factories, distilleries, chemical and titanium plants, are allegedly going to be handed over to Poland. The Russians also add that in 2023, Ukraine allegedly sold around 17 million hectares of fertile land to the American multinational company BlackRock.

These claims are unfounded. Although foreigners can indeed purchase state and municipal enterprises, there is no basis to believe that Ukraine will sell them specifically to Poland. As for agricultural land, its sale to foreign companies is prohibited.

State privatization program

The privatization of state or municipal property is the sale of state or municipal assets to private individuals or companies. This means that institutions previously owned by state or municipal enterprises are transferred to private ownership. The program is not new — it was first launched in 1992 and has continued systematically since then.

However, since 1992, the privatization program has progressed slowly. For example, between 2008 and 2018, the state sold only 93 enterprises. Meanwhile, in just the first three months of 2019 and a similar period in 2020, the government handed over a record 961 assets to the State Property Fund for privatization. At the time, then-Prime Minister Oleksii Honcharuk said the government transferred enterprises that had struggled for years and only caused losses to the state. In 2023, businesses and Ukrainian civilians privatized 941 assets, of which 350 were state-owned. The sale of these assets replenished Ukraine’s state budget by about 3.3 billion UAH in 2023 alone.

According to Ukrainian law, foreigners can indeed be buyers of state or municipal property. However, the final decision to sell such assets to foreigners is made by the Cabinet of Ministers, with approval from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Neither the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Economy, nor the State Property Fund has reported plans to sell municipal or state enterprises to Polish citizens. No public sources provide any statistics on how many state-owned enterprises have been or are planned to be transferred to foreigners. Moreover, according to SOE Weekly, as of January 1, 2023, the largest owner of enterprises nationwide was the Ukrainian state itself.

The Russians also claim that Ukraine announced in 2019 the privatization of 431 enterprises. In 2019, the Cabinet of Ministers indeed approved a list of 431 state-owned enterprises for privatization. However, only four large state-owned enterprises were involved. One of them, the Bilshovyk plant, was bought by a Ukrainian billionaire, while the decision to privatize the other three was canceled in 2020.

Sale of Ukrainian land: did Ukraine really sell 17 million hectares to BlackRock?

In previous materials, we have repeatedly debunked fakes about the mass sale of land to foreigners. In reality, such actions contradict Ukrainian law, as the sale of agricultural land to foreigners is prohibited. Even if a foreigner inherits land, the state disposes of it within a year of acquiring ownership. Foreigners can only obtain permission to buy agricultural land if Ukrainians approve it in a nationwide referendum.

Additionally, the Russians contradict themselves. Initially, they claim that Volodymyr Zelenskyi transferred 17 million hectares of Ukrainian black soil into private ownership by several American corporations. We have already debunked this fake. Meanwhile, propagandists also claim that 17 million hectares of Ukrainian black soil were supposedly sold to one company, BlackRock. All these claims are fake because, according to official data, since the land market opened in 2021, 782,000 hectares of agricultural land have been transferred. This is about 2.8% of all agricultural land that was previously under a moratorium. Therefore, even official data on land sales is much lower than the figures invented by the Russians.