Syria receives 500.000 tons of wheat “stolen” from Ukraine in 2022
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Refinitiv shipping data revealed on Monday that during 2022 Syria has received 500.000 tons of wheat that is “stolen” from Ukraine.
Reuters reported, citing Refinitiv, that Syria has received wheat imports from the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea that Russia snatched from Ukraine.
Refinitiv data showed that the wheat received by Syria from the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea has increased 17-fold in 2022, making up approximately a third of the country’s total imports of grain.
Syria and Russia depend on their own ships in transporting the grain, including three Syrian ships subjected to international sanctions, according to the report.
The data revealed that Syria has imported about 501.800 tons of wheat from Sevastopol in 2022, up from about 28,200 tons in 2021.
Syria started receiving shipments increasingly starting from May 2022, as the largest one has weighed 78.600 tons and it was in October.
In June, the Istanbul-based geographical analyst Yoruk Isik, who is interested in monitoring the movement of ships transiting Turkish Bosporus Strait, said that a Syrian cargo ship carrying stolen goods from Ukraine passed the strait.
In the same month, satellite images showed Russian-flagged ships, transporting Ukrainian grain harvested last year heading towards Syria.