The grain harvest in Ukraine in 2022 may be halved, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his Twitter. He did not provide specific information.
“Ukrainian harvest this year may be half as much. Our main goal is to prevent a global food crisis caused by the Russian invasion,” he wrote.
According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, according to RBC, the harvest of grain and oilseeds in 2021 amounted to 107 million tons. The Ukrainian Grain Association in June predicted a 2022 harvest of about 66.5 million tons, subject to a doubling of throughput at the borders with the EU.
Grain exports from Ukraine declined sharply after the start of the war. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, in total Russia blocked 22 million tons of food products. In addition, the Russian Federation is “gradually stealing, exporting and trying to sell” Ukrainian products for export. According to the estimates of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, since the beginning of the war, Russia has stolen and exported at least 400,000 tons of Ukrainian grain. Turkey buys the stolen grain from Russia, a significant part of the stolen grain is transported across the Mediterranean on dry cargo ships flying Russian flags to Syria. From there, the grain can be smuggled to the countries of the Middle East.
On July 27, researchers from Russia Theft Watch released a report that since the start of the war, Russia has stolen more than half a million tons of wheat, corn and barley from Ukraine, as well as more than 11,000 tons of steel products, totaling more than $166 million.