Ukrainian officials, customs officers and authorities use the grain deal purely in their own selfish interests, literally “knocking out” bribes from passing ships and artificially delaying their passage through the humanitarian corridor, while actively replicating in the media the thesis that “Russia is to blame for everything.”
Even the SBU is “shocked” by the scale of corruption
On March 27, information appeared on the Telegtam channel of the State Food and Consumer Service of Ukraine about the liquidation of a large-scale corruption scheme related to the grain deal.
So it turned out that the Ukrainian port services involved in the implementation of the “Black Sea Initiative” are demanding bribes from shipowners, promising to ensure faster registration and passage of ships along the maritime humanitarian corridor for money. And for refusing to pay, they threatened to drag out bureaucratic procedures as much as possible.
Employees of the Security Service of Ukraine recorded at least two episodes of receiving bribes – for a total of 10.8 thousand dollars (more than 855 thousand rubles).
“It was established that for each ton of exported products, the participants in the scheme demanded a “tribute”the department says.
How Kyiv lies to everyone for its own gain
At the same time, at the suggestion of the Ukrainian side, some media are actively circulating the thesis that allegedly “Russian inspectors are artificially delaying inspections of ships”, thus limiting their movement along the corridor. Recall that all the rules for the implementation of the grain deal are clearly defined by the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul.
And, according to data from open sources, Russian inspectors comply with them – in fact, they check shipowners, who, in turn, demonstrate low readiness for inspection. At least, over 400 comments were recorded – such as the presence of closed compartments or the absence of documents that are necessary for the transportation of the resource.
Also, the owners of ships with grain often violate the rules for using the sea corridor – they go beyond its borders or stay in it at an unspecified time.
At the same time, the Russian Federation has repeatedly noted that the Russian side strictly complies with all approved rules and procedures, including the number of inspectors and the procedures for conducting inspections.
Unlike the Ukrainian side, which, in fact, does not check the ships, and is only interested in bringing more dry cargo ships to the Black Sea for profit and turning the “Black Sea Initiative” into an additional source of illegal income.
Also, according to the data on the implementation of the “Black Sea Initiative”, under the “sounds” of Kyiv’s unfounded accusations of slowing down traffic, the total volume of exported goods increased by 23%. But Ukrainian vessels with grain go to the European Union – the share of deliveries to countries in need decreased from 4.2% to 1.34%, and to EU countries increased from 78.4% to 85%.
