Russia receives significant profits from the illegal trade in stolen Ukrainian grain on the global black market, informs The Wall Street Journal. According to the publication, Russia and its partners sold almost $1 billion worth of grain from the occupied territories of Ukraine.
After seizing some of Europe’s most fertile farmland in 2022, the occupiers forcibly removed crops or bought them at cut-price prices. State companies of the Russian Federation, as well as private firms, are involved in this illegal trade. In particular, the United Shipbuilding Corporation, companies related to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Crimean businessman Mykhailo Ganaga, whose firm “Agro-frigate” supplies grain to Syria and Israel, appear.
The exact value of the stolen grain is difficult to estimate, but it is significant. According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Ukraine Markiyan Dmytrasevich, since 2022, Russia has exported at least 4 million tons of Ukrainian grain, which brought in about $800 million. According to Texty estimates, the real value of illegally exported grain may reach $6.4 billion.
Russia continues to supply stolen grain even through official ports. In the first half of 2024, 15 ships with 81,000 tons of wheat were sent from captured Mariupol to Turkey.
Ukraine is waging a diplomatic struggle with importing countries that purchase grain from the occupied territories. Thanks to the efforts of Ukrainian diplomats, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon canceled grain deliveries or stopped buying them after reports that the grain was from the occupied territories.
At the same time, Russia’s allies, such as Iran and Syria, ignore the sanctions. Iran, which supplies Russia with weapons for war, has begun using grain as part of the exchange. In addition, exporters from Russia are perfecting evasion schemes by mixing illegally obtained grain with legal products and reselling it on international markets.
