Egypt continues to receive Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia

Ukraine has recorded a fourth case of Russia laundering stolen Ukrainian grain through Egyptian ports since April.

Source: Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on X (Twitter)

Quote from Sybiha: "Despite repeated warnings, the Asomatos vessel has been permitted to unload 26,900 tonnes of stolen Ukrainian wheat at Abu Qir."

Details: Sybiha noted that this is already the fourth such case since April.

The Asomatos was allowed to unload despite the fact that four days earlier the Prosecutor General of Ukraine had sent an official request for legal assistance to Egypt's Ministry of Justice regarding this illegal cargo, exported by the sanctioned company Agro-Fregat via occupied Crimea.

The prosecutor provided all necessary data and legal grounds for the arrest of the vessel and its cargo, the minister said.

Quote from Sybiha: "Ukraine is a country that has played the role of a reliable food security guarantor for Egypt for many years – and we don't understand why Egyptian partners pay us back by continuing to accept stolen Ukrainian grain.

… We urge our Egyptian partners to uphold international law, their own promises made to us and the principles of our bilateral relations.

Stolen goods from occupied territories must be seized, not accepted. Looting is not trade, and complicity only fuels further aggression."

Background:

• Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi that Egypt would no longer accept grain exported by Russia from temporarily Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
• Previously, the Office of the Prosecutor General initiated the arrest of the vessel Panormitis and its cargo, which, according to investigators, may be part of a scheme to legitimise Ukrainian grain that is being exported illegally.
• On 27 April, Ukrainian journalist Kateryna Yaresko reported that the vessel Panormitis (IMO: 9445021) had arrived at the Israeli port of Haifa carrying a cargo of grain that may originate from occupied territories of Ukraine.
• In mid-April, the vessel Abinsk, which was carrying grain from temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, also arrived in Israel to unload its cargo.
• Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it will respond to all cases of agricultural products illegally exported by Russia from temporarily occupied territories arriving in third countries, not only Israel.

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