Ukraine war: UK to supply grain DNA testing technology to combat ‘Russian thefts of wheat’

The UK is providing technology to allow grain to be tested to make sure it has not been stolen by Russia from Ukrainian silos and sold abroad for profit.

George Eustice, the environment and food secretary, says the government is giving £1.5m to fund the DNA analysis of wheat to find where it comes from.

“We’re working with other countries, including Australia, on this so that we can ensure that stolen Ukrainian wheat does not find a route to market.

“You can test the DNA of the grain and we’ve got samples of Ukrainian grain. We did a lot of work on this – remember the horsemeat scandal about a decade ago?

It comes after a Sky News investigation that tracked one ship that turned off its transponder as it approached Ukraine in the Black Sea, adding evidence that Russian forces are illegally expropriating Ukrainian resources.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also said the US possesses “credible reports” that Russia is stealing Ukrainian grain and selling it internationally.

He was speaking with reference to a New York Times story that said Washington had last month warned 14 countries, mostly in Africa, that Russia was trying to ship stolen Ukrainian grain to buyers overseas.

The Sky News investigation showed a shipment of grain that was likely to have come from occupied Ukraine before being moved to a Turkish port.

Last week Ankara said it was looking into claims that Ukrainian grain had been stolen by Russia and transferred to countries including Turkey, but added investigations had not found any stolen shipments so far.

Russia has denied allegations it has stolen Ukrainian grain.

Mr Eustice did not explain exactly how and where the British technology would be used and where the money would be spent but the government said on Sunday Prime Minister Boris Johnson would ask other G7 countries to join these efforts.

Sky News understands that the UK is already undertaking work to take geo-referenced timber samples around the world, including from Ukraine, and evidence has shown that a similar approach could be taken with grain samples.

Before the scheme would be able to work, however, samples from Ukraine and neighbouring countries (Russia, Belarus, Moldova) would be required to build a geo-referenced grain data library and the samples must be gathered before this season’s harvest which falls around August/September.

Initial estimates show that spending around £1.5m over 12 months would be enough to build a database of sufficient size to identify whether illegally harvested grain was being imported into the UK but the government admits international cooperation would be necessary to source sufficient samples and hopes likeminded nations support the initiative.

It also admits that it would need to be decided whether traders of host governments would be responsible for paying for the necessary tests as part of importing grain.

Mr Eustice ruled out using the Royal Navy to escort Ukrainian grain ships through the Black Sea to help Kyiv export the 25 million tonnes of wheat in its silos. But, he said, the UK was doing what it can to help them get the grain to market.

He said: “Although it’s a small proportion of the overall total (of grain in worldwide storage), in the current context it’s quite significant and unless we can get it out, there won’t be stores for this year’s harvest to go into.

“So we’re looking at what we can do to help – to repair railways, to look at a land bridge so that we can get that wheat out across the land border. It’s now very, very perilous to try to get ships into the Black Sea… because the area is mined and in fact Ukraine themselves have closed their ports for security reasons.”

There have been fears expressed that there will be growing calls from countries affected by a worldwide hike in food prices as a result of the Ukraine war for Russia and Kyiv to end their conflict, even if it means Ukraine loses territory.

On Monday, it was reported that Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the chair of the Group of 20 (G20) nations, will urge Russia and Ukraine to rekindle peace talks, and seek ways to free up exports of grain to global markets when he visits Moscow and Kyiv in the coming days.

Also on Monday, disruption in wheat supplies caused by the Ukraine war were said to have contributed to a decision by the World Food Programme to further reduce rations in Yemen, where millions face hunger.

Tags: Ukraine, Russia, импорт, Turkey, grain, UK, порт, Black Sea, shipment, geo-referenced