Russia has stolen 4 mln tons of Ukrainian grain since day one of its full-scale war – Ukrainian Grain Association
Photo: GETTY IMAGES
The Russians had stolen about 4 million tons of grain from Ukraine, the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) estimated.
States under sanctions are the buyers of the stolen grain are the countries under sanctions. But even they are wary of grain stolen from Ukraine.
However, there was a case when Libya refused to buy stolen grain.
For stolen grain, ships come like criminals, at night: they turn off GPS trackers, pass by as if invisible, load the grain, and then go in an unknown direction.
The marine traffic program allows you to track where these ships are headed, how much and what they are transporting. All these facts are recorded by Ukraine, explained the president of UGA.
Russia steals not only Ukrainian grain but also its buyers.
During the war, Russia is using the mechanism of blocking Ukraine as a major exporter in order to work in the countries of our traditional sales in our stead.
Where Ukraine pays billions for downtime, Russia has no downtime. Their offer to the client may seem better, he said.
Russia strengthened its position in the Egyptian market, the largest importer of wheat, in which Russia has increased its supplies.
The head of UGA explained that grain buyers need regular deliveries to load their mills with work. The flour produced on them is needed for baking bread. The buyer is forced to choose a more reliable supplier – this is the main reason for Ukraine's loss of grain markets.
Russia's sabotage of the grain initiative caused losses of more than 1 billion dollars due to the ships' downtime in queues.
Ukraine, Turkey, the UN, and Russia extended the grain agreement in March 2023.
For its part, Ukraine said that the agreement was extended for 120 days. At the same time, Russia claims that it agreed only to a 60-day extension, that is, until May 18.
Russia put forward a number of demands for the continuation of the grain agreement, including the partial lifting of sanctions and the restoration of its own exports.
Regarding complications, negotiations between Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and the UN took place in Istanbul last week. The "grain agreement" was extended for another two months, until July 18.
