Russia made at least a billion dollars on stolen grain - WSJ

Since 2022, Russia and its partners have sold nearly one billion dollars worth of grain stolen from the occupied territories of Ukraine.

This is reported by The Wall Street Journal.

This ‘business’ has a wide network of clients, which includes the firms responsible for the Russian invasion, as well as a company associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Crimean businessman Hanaga, who cooperates with Syria and Israel through his company Agro-Fregat LLC, and a company that trades with the UAE.

In the first half of 2024, Russians sent 15 ships with 81,000 tonnes of wheat to Turkey from Mariupol. The Turkish authorities say they have banned ships from the occupied Ukrainian terminals and are cooperating with Kyiv to block illegal trade.

It is noted that the exact commercial value of the stolen agricultural products is difficult to determine. However, according to Deputy Agriculture Minister Dmytrasevych, since 2022, at least 4 million tonnes of grain from the occupied part of Ukraine have been sold on international markets, which is worth about $800 million.

Selling loot helps Russia cope with the economic pressure of sanctions. In this way, the loot stolen as a result of the war helps finance the war itself.

Most of the stolen goods were reportedly exported by small ships or by land. The total value of the grain stolen by the Russians could reach $6.4 billion.

The complicity in this takes many forms. According to the US government, three of the ships exporting large volumes of illegal grain are owned through a network of corporate entities by the Russian state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation, which also produced the warships used to fire on Ukraine.

A Russian company that sells grain from the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region donated $111,000 to the occupiers' battalion.

The report also adds that sometimes foreign vessels are involved in the sale schemes.

In June, Ukrainian prosecutor Igor Ponochovny began monitoring the Turkish vessel Usko MFU, which he suspects was transporting stolen grain last year from the Sevastopol port. In November, this vessel transported 2,100 tonnes of crushed sunflower and brown wheat seeds to Turkey with a potential value of half a million dollars.

Investigators said they found a message on board from the ship's managers to the captain instructing him to conceal the cargo's Crimean origin.

The market for Crimean grain is Yemen and Iran. Egypt, Israel and Lebanon stopped buying grain after they were told that it had been stolen.

Tehran buys barley from Crimea for $140 per tonne, a 34% discount from market prices.

Author - Olena Madiak, 16/09/2024