The end of the war in Ukraine approaches and as in any war the main question is how to share out the spoils and who pays for the war. The recent brawl in the White House between Zelensky, Trump and Vance, once again placed the end of the war and sharing out the spoils on the public agenda.
Many liberals are horrified that Trump could talk like that to a foreign president. It is not strange that he did so, but rather that he did so publicly in broad daylight. Countries under the yoke of the Yanks know their place and how to behave in public and in exchange the Yanks usually, though not always, behave themselves with a certain amount of decorum. Trump reminded Zelensky in front of the whole world who held the cards, who had power and who really decides the future of Ukraine and at what price: the mineral resources, amongst other things.
The relationship of power and dependence between Ukraine and the US is not new and also includes other actors, such as the European Union, the World Bank and of course that gang of economic hitmen, as they describe themselves, the International Monetary Fund.[1] Following the Maidan Coup, Ukraine received a loan from the IMF for US $17 billion and an “Aid” package from the World Bank in exchange for a government programme to slash pensions, wages, reforms in water and energy supply, the privatisation of banks and changes in the VAT regime. The EU for its part demanded changes to privatise the economy as part of an Association Agreement,[2] as laid out in the DCFTA document (EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area).[3] Ukraine is the second more indebted country to the IMF just behind Argentina with a total debt of US $11,105,975,842.[4] In February 2025 it paid back US $161 million. The soldiers dodge Russian snipers, but no one survives the IMF hitmen. Now Ukraine in 2023 has, according to the WB, a total debt of US $176.645 billion, representing 279% of the value of exports,[5] something to be borne in mind in the event of any agreement on foreign access to mineral resources.
Amongst the demands made by the EU and other institutions are reforms in the agricultural sector regarding the sale of land. The EU and the US’s aims is a land market. The Zelensky government in compliance with a condition on some loans for US $700 million from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (one of the lending agencies of the World Bank) implemented these reforms in the face of public opposition.[6]
Ukraine’s lands are increasingly concentrated in fewer hands. Some 4.3 million hectares are in the hands of ten companies, the largest of which is Kernel, owned by Ukrainian oligarch Andriy Verevskyi, and it owns 582,062 hectares.[7] Of the top ten largest agricultural companies in the country, only one is registered in Ukraine and all are heavily indebted to western financial bodies. Between 2004 and 2023, the private banking arm of the WB, the IFC lent more than US $1 billion to agribusiness in Ukraine.[8]
There is nothing strange about this. It is the most common thing in modern capitalism. Just one agricultural company Cargill has 160,000 employees and operates in 70 countries. It doesn’t matter what the product is, the market is dominated by a handful of North American and European companies and the companies are usually dominant in more than one market with a variety of products. The same names come up again and again: Cargill, Nestlé, ADM etc. That these companies aim to dominate the breadbasket of Europe is normal, not a bit surprising.
Likewise with minerals. The large mining companies of the world are from the so-called Global North. It doesn’t matter what the mineral is, nor the country where the deposits are to be found, whether it be gold, copper, coal or coltan etc. The companies are almost always foreign. What is most surprising is that some thought this war was to free Ukraine and not to subdue it. Some thought the West promoted the Maidán coup for the good of Ukraine and not international capital.
Amongst the investors in the agricultural lands of Ukraine are companies such as Goldman Sachs, Norges Bank Investment Management (who manage the Norwegian pension funds), BNP, the Vanguard Group, the largest provider of investment funds in the world.[9] So it comes as no surprise that Zelensky would thank these and similar companies.
We have already managed to attract attention and have cooperation with such giants of the international, financial and investment world as BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, [and] such American brands as Starlink or Westinghouse have already become part of our Ukrainian way… Everyone can become a big business by working with Ukraine…
American business can become a locomotive of global economic growth.[10]
It couldn’t be clearer and JD Vance emphasised it and said the best security guarantee for Ukraine was to give the US an economic upside in the future of Ukraine. The war ends with the sharing out of the wealth of Ukraine, not as a perversion of its aims, but as an integral part of the war. After Iraq and so many invasions and coups throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries, what is inexplicable is that some thought that this wouldn’t be the case. Some openly dreamed of breaking up Russia and sharing out its resources and now they settle for a lesser prize. The war is over because Ukraine and NATO cannot win it and now it is left to see who gets the larger share of the pie, the USA or Europe? Of course, Ukraine does not figure when it comes to sharing out the swag.
There is an old refrain on the left that all wars have economic motives. It continues to be true.
References
[1] John Perkins in his book, Confessions of an Economic Hitman, not only explains that he was one, but that internally they described themselves as such. Perkins J. (2016) The New Confessions of an Economic Hitman. Oakland. BK Publishers.
[2] Mousseau, F. & Devillers, E. (2023) War and Theft. The Takeover of Ukraine’s Agricultural Land. Oakland Institute. USA. P.14
[3] See.
[4] See.
[5] WB (2024) International Debt Report 2024. P.193
[6] Mousseau, F. & Devillers, E. (2023) Op. Cit. p.15
[7] Ibíd., p.8
[8] Ibíd., p.15
[9] Ibíd., p. 9
[10] See.
⏩ Gearóid Ó Loingsigh is a political and human rights activist with extensive experience in Latin America.
It was not a "Maidan coup" but a popular uprising against a pro- Putin kleptocrat who vetoed popular demands for closer ties with the EU whose snipers killed 100 Maidan protesters.
ReplyDeleteTrump is going hell for leather to make his mark on History. The only difference in the US's actions in the world is that there is no longer any pretense about what they are after.
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