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The war in Ukraine has forced the Lebanese state to consider stepping in for the first time in three decades to buy millions of dollars a month of wheat as they seek alternatives to Ukrainian and Russian markets given the ongoing crisis.
Lebanese Economy Minister Amin Salam told The National on Tuesday he has asked the US and other international donors to help secure an emergency reserve as wheat stockpiles remain low. The country’s only silos at Beirut’s port were destroyed in a devastating explosion in August 2020.
The aim is to buy one month of the country’s wheat, or 50,000 tonnes, and then progressively more. “We’ll get them at the lowest market price,” said Mr Salam, who will be discussing the details of the plan with the Finance Ministry in the coming days.
The wheat will be stored in the countries of sale and brought to Lebanon when storage capacity allows, he said. The move is a direct response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but is also part of a wider strategy to maintain reserves, the minister said.
Before the explosion, Lebanon’s wheat reserves were equivalent to three or four months of consumption. Since the blast, depleted stockpiles can last for little more than a month. Wheat is currently stored in the port of Tripoli and in buildings owned by the country’s millers.
Lebanon’s food security must be a red line
Ali Ibrahim,
vice president of the federation of Lebanese bakers
With wheat prices rising sharply due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, there are fears that Lebanon’s cash-strapped central bank will not be able to continue subsidising bread.
This could cause social unrest in a country where nearly three quarters of the population has been pushed into poverty since 2019. Lebanon's financial collapse has caused the local currency to tumble and inflation to soar.
“There is no capacity at the central bank to pay higher prices,” said Mr Salam. “It’s now subsidising wheat at a cost of $390 or $400 a tonne, but if international prices increase to $500 a tonne then the central bank’s costs increase because it subsidises wheat 100 per cent."
This means that at current prices, Lebanon’s central bank is spending around $20 million a month.
Lebanon is highly dependent on wheat imports from Ukraine and Russia to produce its widely consumed traditional Arabic bread. Customs figures show that in 2020, Lebanon imported 81 per cent of its wheat from Ukraine and 15 per cent from Russia.
Mr Salam said that while Lebanon was still considering buying from Russia, he has been talking to Romania and the US, and in the coming days he expects to discuss potential deals with India, France and Canada. Ukraine is no longer an option.
“The further we go, the more expensive the shipping is,” he said. “We need to move fast. Every day, prices can jump $20 or $30 [per tonne] depending on the escalation of the war between Russia and Ukraine.”
The Lebanese state delegated wheat purchases to the private sector at the end of the country's 1975-1990 civil war. Buying wheat directly is "out of the norm”, said Mr Salam. “But the Ministry of Economy and Trade is allowed to do it by law, particularly when we are facing such an emergency.”
He said he believed that state purchases of wheat would remain in place over the next year.
The Economy Ministry's decision shows that it is "reconsidering its duty in relation to strategic foods", said Riad Saade, director of the Lebanese centre of agricultural research and studies.
Lebanon set up a government programme in the late 1950s dedicated to researching, producing and importing crops, including wheat. But this system was dismantled during Lebanon's post-war reconstruction in the early 1990s.
"The Economy Ministry, which used to control operations, became a supervisor, paving the way for contractors in wheat, cereals and grains to take over the work," said Mr Saade.
Lebanon's post-war system is under intense scrutiny from the IMF, which is demanding significant anti-corruption reforms before considering a bailout.
Sales of bread have gone up in the past two years because it remained relatively cheap compared to other goods thanks to subsidies, said Ali Ibrahim, vice president of the federation of Lebanese bakers.
The cost of a pack of bread, which is set by the Economy Ministry, is currently worth $0.40 at market rate, or 8,000 Lebanese pounds. It cost 1,500 Lebanese pounds before the 2019 crisis.
“Lebanon’s food security must be a red line. They need to start importing the wheat today, before tomorrow,” said Mr Ibrahim.
Mr Salam said he hoped to reduce the price of bread, should a foreign country step in to secure Lebanon’s needs in wheat. “We want prices to go down or remain stable. If they go up, it’ll be a disaster,” he said.
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
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The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
SCORES
Multiply Titans 81-2 in 12.1 overs
(Tony de Zorzi, 34)
bt Auckland Aces 80 all out in 16 overs
(Shawn von Borg 4-15, Alfred Mothoa 2-11, Tshepo Moreki 2-16).
UAE SQUAD
Khalid Essa (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif (Al Jazira), Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah), Mahmoud Khamis (Al Nasr), Yousef Jaber (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalifa Al Hammadi (Jazira), Salem Rashid (Jazira), Shaheen Abdelrahman (Sharjah), Faris Juma (Al Wahda), Mohammed Shaker (Al Ain), Mohammed Barghash (Wahda), Abdulaziz Haikal (Shabab Al Ahli), Ahmed Barman (Al Ain), Khamis Esmail (Wahda), Khaled Bawazir (Sharjah), Majed Surour (Sharjah), Abdullah Ramadan (Jazira), Mohammed Al Attas (Jazira), Fabio De Lima (Al Wasl), Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Khalfan Mubarak (Jazira), Habib Fardan (Nasr), Khalil Ibrahim (Wahda), Ali Mabkhout (Jazira), Ali Saleh (Wasl), Caio (Al Ain), Sebastian Tagliabue (Nasr).
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
Company%20profile
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England squads for Test and T20 series against New Zealand
Test squad: Joe Root (capt), Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Dominic Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes
T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Pat Brown, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, James Vince
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
LEADERBOARD
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
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Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013