Possibly more ships full of Ukrainian grain stolen

Ukraine has asked Turkey to check three more Russian-flagged ships for stolen grain from Ukraine. Last Sunday it was announced that Turkey was holding a ship because it had Ukrainian grain on board, but there may be several ships full of Ukrainian grain.

Ukraine has asked Turkey to investigate three Russian-flagged ships for 'illegal exports of Ukrainian grain'. This does not concern ships that recently departed from Ukraine, but ships loaded with grain stolen from areas occupied by Russia in the months of April and May. 

Transported by road transport
In a letter to the Turkish Ministry of Justice in mid-June, the Ukrainian prosecutor general appears to have asked the Turkish Ministry of Justice to investigate three ships and prove that they were involved in grain transport. This concerns stolen grain from Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia, including Kherson, Reuters reports. The ships are said to have loaded stolen grain from Ukraine in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol. The grain would have been brought to the port by domestic transport. After loading, the ships headed for Turkey and asked for approval to deliver the grain to Turkish ports.

The three ships under investigation are owned by a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Russia United Shipbuilding Corporation. The state-owned company is subject to Western sanctions.

wait for investigation
The Russian-flagged ship Zhibek Zholy has been detained off the port of Karasu, Turkey, since Sunday, July 3, after Ukraine asked Turkey to detain it for exporting stolen Ukrainian grain. The allegation is currently being investigated. According to maritime data from Ukraine, the ship was loaded in the occupied port city of Berdyansk and the cargo contains 4.500 tons of grain. However, the Ukrainian request to Turkey concerns a cargo of 7.000 tons of grain.

Jesse Torringa

Jesse is an editor at Boerenbusiness and focuses in particular on the arable farming sector, including grain and onions. He also closely follows the fertilizer market. In addition, Jesse works on an arable farm in Groningen with seed potatoes as the main branch.

j.torringa@boerenbusiness. Nl

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