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A cargo ship loaded with flour seized in Lebanon: the theft of grain, the other war between Ukraine and Russia

2022-07-30T23:08:09.321Z


Ukrainian authorities regularly accuse Moscow of stealing crops from the areas it occupies and exporting them illegally


This case seems to be further evidence of Russian double talk since the start of the war in Ukraine.

A Lebanese prosecutor ordered this Saturday the seizure of a ship, suspected of transporting “stolen” Ukrainian cereals, according to the kyiv embassy in Beirut.

The incident could have repercussions, as the two belligerents recently signed an agreement supposed to allow the legal export of Ukrainian cereals in the occupied ports.

The "Laodicea", a freighter flying the Syrian flag, reportedly docked in the port of Tripoli in the north of the country on Wednesday, according to the maritime data site MarineTraffic.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Lebanon, Ihor Ostash, announced on Thursday that he had discussed with the Lebanese president, Michel Aoun, “the entry of a Syrian ship (…) loaded with barley, illegally, from occupied Ukrainian territories ".

On Friday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib announced on his Twitter account that he had received "a number of protests and warnings from several Western countries after the arrival of a Syrian-flagged ship loaded with of flour and barley”.

Flour for Syria?

Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat in Beirut therefore instructed the police this Saturday to investigate the case, said a justice official, ordering in particular the "seizure of the ship until the end of the investigation".

According to initial information, the director of the charter company is Turkish, while the goods belong to a Syrian merchant, the justice official said, adding that part of the cargo should be unloaded in Lebanon and the rest in Syria, an ally of Russia.

The ship would carry 5,000 tons of barley and 5,000 tons of flour, according to RFI.

Read alsoUkraine: 5 minutes to understand the looting of wheat denounced by Westerners

This incident could make the Ukrainian side cringe as Russia and Ukraine finally signed on July 22, a first significant text to allow the Russian blockade of Ukrainian ships to be lifted.

Because since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 20 to 25 million tonnes of wheat have been waiting to be loaded in Ukrainian ports.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky even visited the port of Chornomorsk, in southern Ukraine, to supervise the loading of the first freighter legally exporting Ukrainian wheat.

Because the country is one of the main exporters of cereals and many countries, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, risk famine if these cereals do not reach them.

Wheat shortage and risk of famine

This is the case of Lebanon, a country in the midst of economic collapse and suffering from wheat shortages.

Lebanese are lining up for bags of subsidized bread, as the country imports 80% of its wheat from Ukraine.

The Lebanese authorities could therefore hardly do without this wheat, even if it comes from an illegal export.

A customs official also declared on Friday that after verification, "the papers of the goods (from Laodicea, editor's note) were in order and that there was no proof that they had arrived in Lebanon stolen".

More than “700,000 tons” stolen?

kyiv regularly accuses Moscow of stealing Ukraine's crops in the areas it occupies, for domestic consumption or to sell them abroad illegally.

At the beginning of July, the Zhibek Zholy, a bulk carrier flying the Russian flag, was immobilized for six days in a Turkish port, the Ukrainian authorities suspecting it of transporting 7,000 tonnes of wheat stolen from the occupied territories.

Turkish customs had finally decided to let him join Russian territorial waters.

The Ukrainian parliament estimated in mid-May at 500,000 the number of tonnes of Ukrainian cereals illegally exported by the Russians.

The United Nations estimated at the time that the figure was closer to 700,000 tons.

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2022-07-30

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