Ships come in at night like criminals: Russia has stolen millions of tonnes of grain from Ukraine

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian occupiers have already stolen about 4 million tonnes of grain. The Russians export food mostly at night and sell it to other sanctioned countries.

This was stated by the President of the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) Mykola Gorbachev. "Ships come to pick up stolen grain like criminals - at night: they disable GPS trackers, pass like invisible men, load up, and then leave in an unknown direction. However, the marine traffic programme allows us to track where these ships are going, how much and what they are carrying. Ukraine records all the facts," he explained.

According to him, sanctioned countries have become buyers of the stolen goods. But they are also cautious about the grain stolen in Ukraine. In particular, there was a case when Libya refused to buy it. Therefore, as the expert noted, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Russia to trade in stolen goods.

However, as Gorbachev pointed out, Russia steals not only Ukrainian grain, but also buyers. That is why Russia is slowing down and blocking the work of the "grain corridor" in the Black Sea. In this way, Russia has already strengthened its position in the market of Egypt, the largest wheat importer.

"Ukraine pays billions for downtime, while Russia has no downtime. Their offer may seem better to the client," Gorbachev said.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, Russia has been blocking the incoming fleet to the largest port of the grain deal, Pivdennyi, for almost a month. In particular, on May 19, Russia unilaterally and without giving any reasons refused to inspect ships entering this port.

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