Speaking on Ukrainian national television, Taras Vysotskiy expressed concern that most of what he said was 1.5 million tonnes of grain stored in the occupied territories could also be stolen by Russian forces. Ukraine’s foreign ministry accused Russia on Thursday of stealing grain from occupied territories, a move it said posed a threat to global food security. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said grain theft had risen in the past two weeks. “I personally hear from many silo owners in the occupied territories. This is a clear robbery. And this is happening everywhere in the occupied territories,” Solski was quoted as saying by the ministry. He said such a situation could create food problems in areas that are not currently controlled. “Wheat will soon be harvested in the south. But farmers in this situation may well say, ‘Here are the keys to the tractor – go pick it yourself if you want,’” Solski said. The Kremlin has denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday stating “Similar, baseless allegations concerning Ukraine’s foreign policy have been made more than once. The Ministry of Agriculture said on Friday that six regions in Ukraine completed their early spring sowing despite the Russian invasion. Ukraine is divided into 24 regions, but there are no plans to sow grain in Luhansk in the east due to heavy fighting there. The ministry did not give any forecast for grain harvest in 2022, while analysts see production at 41.4 million tonnes this year compared to 86 million tonnes in 2021. The consulting company APK-Inform said that grain exports in 2022/23 could amount to a total of 33.2 million tonnes compared to 45.5 million expected for the 2021/22 season ending in June. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Pavel Polityuk. Editing by William Mallard and Hugh Lawson Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
