Hurricane-prone states The day in pictures Get the USA TODAY app Start the day smarter ☀️ U.S. Elections Sports Entertainment Life Money Tech Travel Opinion ONLY AT USA TODAY: Newsletters For Subscribers From the Archives Crossword eNewspaper Magazines Investigations Podcasts Video Humankind Just Curious Best-selling Booklist 24/7 Live Stream Legals OUR PORTFOLIO: 10Best USAT Wine Club Online Sports Betting Online Casino Reviewed Homefront Blueprint Southern Kitchen Best Auto Insurance Best Pet Insurance Best Travel Insurance Best Credit Cards Best CD Rates Best Personal Loans Home Internet FACT CHECK fact-checking Add Topic # Fact check: False claim that President Zelenskyy sold huge amount of land in Ukraine to US companies ![\\"Portrait](\\"/gcdn/presto/2022/08/22/USAT/b102be45-faac-4468-8c07-b1e9866eb258-MollyStellinoHeadshot.jpeg?crop=3138,3138,x318,y237&width=48&height=48&format=pjpg&auto=webp\\") Molly Stellino USA TODAY ![\\"\\"](\\"/gcdn/presto/2022/06/24/USAT/19915883-ec6e-42e5-86ec-91e20e137c3f-AP_Russia_Ukraine_War_Food_Crisis_Explainer_5.jpg?crop=8444,4750,x0,y429&width=660&height=371&format=pjpg&auto=webp\\"/) ## The claim: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sold 17 million hectares of farmland to US corporations After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, numerous claims about Ukraine\'s sovereignty and its position in the global food supply chain began surfacing. An Aug. 9 post claims Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sold 17 million hectares of land to U.S. companies. The user singles out multinational companies Monsanto, Dupont and Cargill. It reads, \"Zelensky (sic) sold 17 million hectares of agricultural land to Monsanto, Dupont, and Cargill. Yes… you read it well… 17 million hectares to GM0/chemical companies.\" The post has been shared more than 300 times. An earlier version was shared 1,000 times. The claim is baseless. Under Ukrainian law, foreign entities cannot own land. The president does not have the power to sell land, according to Frederic Mousseau, policy director at the progressive think tank Oakland Institute. Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the claim for comment. ## In Ukraine, selling land to foreign countries is illegal The post refers to three multinational companies: Monsanto, Dupont and Cargill. U.S.-based Monsanto was the largest manufacturer of genetically modified seeds before it was bought by German drug company Bayer in 2018. Dupont is an American biotechnology company that manufactures chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Cargill is an American company that produces and distributes agricultural products. It’s impossible for Zelenskyy to have sold the land to these companies – or any foreign entities – because Ukraine has strict agricultural laws prohibiting foreign companies from owning land. According to the Land Code of Ukraine, “Agricultural lands may not be transferred to the ownership of foreign nationals, stateless persons, foreign legal entities and foreign states.” A 2021 law changed how land was bought and sold in Ukraine, according to an Oakland Institute article co-authored by Mousseau. The law reversed a long-standing moratorium on the transfer of private land and created a new market for landowners to sell and purchase land. Foreign companies, however, were still barred from owning land in Ukraine. As evidence for the claim, the post cites an Australian National Review article. That website, though, is a frequent purveyor of false information, according to the Australian Associated Press, which also debunked the claim. In addition, an editor\'s note at the bottom of the Australian National Review article provided an update to its reporting on the supposed transaction: “The 17 million hectares quoted was an error, and its 1.7 million. Note the alleged companies don’t hold the land in their names but via investment funds.” In response, Mousseau said the law \"doesn’t prevent foreign agribusinesses, investment funds or banks from taking shares, interest, and some level of control in Ukrainian firms that buy or leased land.\" Fact check roundup: What\'s true and what\'s false about the Russian invasion of Ukraine He said U.S. investment funds have large stakes in the largest landowners in Ukraine. Investors include funds like BlackRock and Vanguard, as well as American and European pension funds, banks and foundations. Although the companies mentioned in the post can\'t buy land directly, in 2014 Cargill did buy a 5% share in UkrLandFarming, one of the largest landholders in Ukraine with 475,000 hectares of land as of 2020, Mousseau said. Despite the moratorium on private land transfers, more than two million hectares — or about 7,700 square miles — of land have ended up being controlled by foreign companies through leases, Mousseau said. The largest investors are companies from Cyprus, the U.S. and the Netherlands. NCH Capital, a U.S. investment fund, also controls more than 330,000 hectares of land in Ukraine through leases, Mousseau said. “There is no doubt that Cargill, Dupont and Monsanto have major business interests in Ukraine – and see major profit opportunities there – but it is not through their direct control of the land,” he said. ## Our rating: False Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Zelenskyy sold 17 million hectares of farmland to U.S. corporations. It is illegal for foreign companies to own land in Ukraine, according to experts. While Cargill, Dupont and Monsanto do have business interests in Ukraine, and Cargill has a 5% share in a land-holding company, none own land directly. ## Our fact-check sources: * Frederic Mousseau, Aug. 30, Email interview with USA TODAY * Australian Associated Press Factcheck, Aug. 22, Not a grain of truth in Ukrainian farmland claim * Logically, Aug. 9, False: President Zelenskyy sold 17 million hectares of Ukrainian agricultural land to U.S. companies. * The Oakland Institute, Nov. 12, 2021, Who really benefits from the creation of a land market in Ukraine? * Reuters, June 3, 2018, With deal to close this week, Bayer to retire Monsanto name * Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed Aug. 25, DuPont Company * Forbes, accessed Aug. 25, Cargill * Australian National Review, May 27, Three Large American Multinationals Bought 17 Million Hectares of Ukrainian Agricultural Land * Asters Law, July 9, 2020, LAND REFORM IN UKRAINE: SALE OF AGRICULTURAL LAND TO FOREIGN BUYERS IS NOT ALLOWED, BUT WHAT ABOUT MORTGAGE? * Center for Strategic and International Studies, May 18, The Impact of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine in the Middle East and North Africa * Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, accessed Aug. 30, The Land Code of Ukraine * CNBC, March 18, 2014, For US-Russia, Cold War and corn share long history * The Oakland Institute, December 2014, THE CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF UKRAINIANAGRICULTURE * Large Scale Agriculture, Oct. 7, 2021, TOP 10 UKRAINIAN AGRICULTURAL LAND USERS 2021 Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. 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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sold 17 million hectares of farmland to US corporations