Russia stole about 4 million tons of grain from Ukraine – Ukrainian Grain Association
The Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) estimated that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russians had stolen about 4 million tons of grain from Ukraine.
Source: UGA President Mykola Horbachov said this on air of the Freedom TV channel, the association's press service reports.
Details: According to him, the buyers of the stolen grain are the countries under sanctions. But even they are wary of grain stolen from Ukraine. In particular, there was a case when Libya refused to buy stolen grain.
Quote: "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. However, 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.
Horbachiov added that Russia steals not only Ukrainian grain but also its buyers.
Quote: "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, the Russian Federation has no downtime. Their offer to the client may seem better," he said.
It was in this way that 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.
For reference: As a result of Russia's sabotage of the grain initiative, Ukraine suffered losses of more than 1 billion dollars due to the ships' downtime in queues.
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