Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Syrian and Russian ships, under international sanctions, have been supplying Syria with wheat from the port of Sevastopol, in Crimea. At the end of November, supplies from this port, located on this Ukrainian territory annexed by Moscow in 2014, had reached 500,000 tonnes for the year 2022, against 28,000 tonnes in 2021, according to data collected by the firm specializing in monitoring Refinitiv financial markets. Ukrainian authorities believe that this wheat comes, at least in part, from crops that have been stolen by Russia from Ukrainian farmers in areas it occupies.
“Twenty-three grain carriers have left Crimean ports for Syria since May, including three of 27,000 tonnes each last week. These ports are closed to international trade and these vessels are illegal”, denounces a source within the Embassy of Ukraine in Lebanon. The latter accuses Moscow of supplying the Syrian regime with wheat stolen from the agricultural regions of Zaporijia, Kherson and, before its liberation, Kharkiv. In June, the Moscow-appointed governor of Zaporizhia acknowledged that Crimean ports were being used to export grain from the region, saying farmers were paid.
Trucks to Crimea
The Crimean authorities, for their part, indicated in August that they had harvested 1.4 million tonnes of wheat. “Crimea cannot even produce enough wheat to meet its own needs. By the end of October, a total of 1.7 million tons of wheat had been stolen from Ukraine”continues the Ukrainian source.
These estimates are established by the Ukrainian security and justice services from reports of theft of Ukrainian farmers and truck movements to Crimea. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in May described the allegations as “fallacious”.
Although the international sanctions imposed on Russia do not target the grain trade, Moscow denounces obstacles to its exports to its traditional customers in Africa and the Middle East. The shipment of wheat from Crimea to Syria is carried out by Syrian ships, placed under American sanctions, as well as Russian-flagged ships belonging to a Russian state company under sanctions, according to the Reuters agency.
Since the start of the conflict in 2011, Syria has increased its wheat imports to compensate for the decline in local production. This production has again fallen drastically in the past two years – to less than 75% of its pre-war levels due to waves of drought and the economic crisis. In September, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated production for the year 2022 at 1 million tonnes, including 520,000 tonnes in areas under the regime’s control. However, according to the FAO, the demand for wheat in the regions controlled by Damascus amounts to 3 million tons per year.
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