Russia "gets rich" with Ukrainian grain - Uses occupied territories to increase exports
The Luhansk region, claimed by Russia as part of it since 2022, aims to double its grain production this year and export some of it
Luhansk, one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia has claimed as its own since the start of the war in 2022, expects to double its wheat harvest this year and send some for export, local officials say.
The rapid expansion of production reflects the growing role of the regions in Russia's agricultural sector and shows how the world's largest grain exporter is incorporating them into its strategy.
Last year, the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, declared by Russia as its “new territories” but still internationally recognized as Ukrainian, supplied about 3% of the country’s grain harvest, the Agriculture Ministry said. Without them, the 14% drop due to bad weather in southern Russia would have been even greater.
"This year we plan to harvest about a million tons of grain, mainly wheat," said Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Luhansk administration. "We planned to do the same last year, but with very bad weather conditions, spring frosts and drought, we collected only half a million," he added.
At current market prices in Russia for August, this year's 1 million-ton harvest would be worth about $230 million. Before pro-Russian separatists took partial control of Luhansk, the region had produced 1.3 million tons of grain, mostly wheat, in 2013.
Ukraine considers all grain produced in the four regions and in Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, to be stolen by Moscow, and plans to ask Western allies to sanction their importers. Kiev says its intelligence services have discovered that Ukrainian grain is being mixed with Russian grain at Black Sea ports and sent for export.
Ukraine also called on the European Union to impose sanctions on Bangladesh for buying wheat it said came from regions controlled by Russia, but the EU did not take punitive measures. Traders say it is impossible to trace the origin of the wheat once it has been mixed.
Russian officials have not commented on the legal status of grain harvested in the “new territories.” The Kremlin’s official statistics agency does not include the regions’ harvests in reports, unlike the Agriculture Ministry, creating inconsistencies regarding their status.
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