On July 3, the ship Zhibek Zholy entered the port of Karasu. The ship brings 7.000 tons of grain, loaded in the Ukrainian port Berdyansk. Vasily Bodnar, Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey, conveyed to Ankara a message from Kyiv that the grain aboard the Zhibek Zholy had been stolen in Ukraine. Turkey reacted immediately and arrested the ship. The ship is not unloading but is waiting for the verdict of the Turkish side. The grain will be analyzed, its origin will be established (more precisely, it will be confirmed that the grain was grown and stolen in Ukraine) and a verdict will be issued.
Russia reacted to the incident and, of course, began to blame third parties. According to Lavrov, "the ship is indeed under the Russian flag, but I think it belongs to Kazakhstan, and the cargo was transported under a contract between Estonia and Turkey." At the same time, Forbes Kazakhstan denied the words of the sanctioned Lavrov:
"Earlier, the Kazakh company KTZ Express explained that on October 26, 2021, KTZ Express Shipping LLP (ship owner) entered into a bareboat charter agreement with the Russian company Green Line LLC. Under the terms of the deal, the Kazakh ship Zhibek Zholy was leased to a Russian transport company until November 30, 2022," Forbes Kazakhstan.
According to officials, Turkey is extremely sensitive about the issue of Ukrainian grain on a Russian ship in the port of Turkey since the state is the organizer of negotiations between Ukraine, the UN, and Russia regarding the blocking of ports and grain theft.
The UK may help determine the homeland of the grain aboard the Zhibek Zholy: the state has allocated £1.5 million for the DNA analysis of grain on ships that Russia takes grain from Ukraine, as well as "grain that has appeared from nowhere" on world markets.
"We need to be able to verify the origin of wheat. The UK is the world leader in verifying the origin – the exact region where the crop was grown – through DNA testing. We are working on this with other countries, including Australia, to ensure that the stolen Ukrainian wheat will not reach the market," British environment secretary George Eustis.
We remind you that earlier, Russia offered Ukrainian for purchase to Egypt, but the country refused. After that, Russia made an offer to Lebanon but was also refused there. Then Syria began to buy the stolen grain, the "gray zone" in which Ukrainian grain "disappears'', and its further geography is unknown.
