Ukrainian official says $4.25 billion worth of grain stolen by Russia

Kiev (Jiji Press) – Russia has stolen $4.25 billion worth of grain from Ukrainian territory since the invasion in February 2022, Taras Vysotskyi, Ukraine’s acting minister of agricultural policy and food, said in a recent interview with Jiji Press.

The amount of grain Russia has stolen from occupied Ukrainian territory “could reach 17 million tons,” Vysotskyi said.

The Russian military occupies 6.2 million hectares of agricultural land in eastern and southern Ukraine, or 19 percent of the country’s total, Vysotskyi said.

It is believed that the Russian military is exporting stolen grain to regions such as Africa and the Middle East as “produced in Russia.”

Ukraine is a major exporter of wheat and corn. Agricultural products account for about 60 percent of Ukrainian exports.

Vysotskyi said it is important to keep shipping through the Black Sea safe to ensure food security.

He pinned high hopes on Japanese technologies to remove landmines from Ukrainian farmland. The removal will take “decades,” he said.

The Ukrainian government estimates that 17.4 million hectares of Ukrainian land, or about 30 percent of the country’s total, has been demined. This year the aim is to demine 512,000 hectares of agricultural land.

Large Japanese mine-clearing machines are scheduled to be delivered to Ukraine in July as part of Tokyo’s support for the country’s mine-clearing efforts.

Vysotskyi said the Japanese experience is “very necessary” and “very valuable” for Ukraine.

He called on Japan to lift early the ban on imports of Ukrainian chickens, which was imposed after an outbreak of bird flu in Ukraine. Ukraine has sent a formal letter to Japan demanding the lifting of the ban, he said.