Russia makes at least billion dollars on stolen Ukrainian grain – WSJ

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

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Details: This "business" has a wide network of clients, which includes the firms responsible for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as a company linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Crimean businessman Mykhailo 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 Türkiye 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, Ukrainian Deputy Agriculture Minister Dmytrasevych reported that 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 US$800 million.

The sale of loot helps Russia cope with the economic pressure of sanctions. In this way, the loot stolen during the war helps it 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 US$6.4 billion.

The complicity in this takes many forms. The US government notes that 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 Oblast donated US$111,000 to the Russian battalion.

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

In June, Ukrainian prosecutor Ihor Ponochovnyi began monitoring the Turkish vessel Usko MFU, which he suspects was transporting stolen grain last year from the port of Sevastopol. In November, this vessel transported 2,100 tonnes of crushed sunflower and brown wheat seeds to Türkiye with a potential value of US$500,000.

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.

Yemen and Iran are the markets for Crimean grain. Egypt, Israel, and Lebanon stopped buying it after they were told that it had been stolen.

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

Background:

• Wheat futures jumped to the highest level in two months after the Russian attack on a grain carrier in the Black Sea.
• Sales of agricultural machinery in Russia in the period from January to July decreased by 10.9% compared to the same period last year, reaching 127.7 billion roubles (US$1.4 billion).
• Russia's systemic military attacks on the port infrastructure of Odesa ports, where agricultural products are stored, have caused Ukraine losses of US$500,000 million in destroyed equipment and products over the year of the operation of the grain corridor.

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