• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, centre, surrounded by ambassadors of different countries and UN officials, visits a port as grain is loaded on to a Turkish ship, close to Odesa. AP
    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, centre, surrounded by ambassadors of different countries and UN officials, visits a port as grain is loaded on to a Turkish ship, close to Odesa. AP
  • A Turkish Polarnet cargo ship is loaded with Ukrainian grain. AP
    A Turkish Polarnet cargo ship is loaded with Ukrainian grain. AP
  • A security officer stands next to the ship 'Navi-Star' which sits full of grain as it waits to sail from Odesa. AP
    A security officer stands next to the ship 'Navi-Star' which sits full of grain as it waits to sail from Odesa. AP
  • Mr Zelenskyy, centre, at the port. AP
    Mr Zelenskyy, centre, at the port. AP
  • The first shipment of Ukrainian grain left the port of Odesa, bound for Tripoli in Lebanon, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said. AP
    The first shipment of Ukrainian grain left the port of Odesa, bound for Tripoli in Lebanon, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said. AP
  • An ear of wheat adorns the vest of a Ukrainian soldier. AP
    An ear of wheat adorns the vest of a Ukrainian soldier. AP
  • A dockyard worker watches as barley is mechanically poured into a 40,000-tonne ship at a Ukrainian agricultural exporter's terminal in the city of Nikolaev. Reuters
    A dockyard worker watches as barley is mechanically poured into a 40,000-tonne ship at a Ukrainian agricultural exporter's terminal in the city of Nikolaev. Reuters
  • A farmer harvests his field 10 kilometres from the front line, where fierce battle continues between Ukrainian troops and Russian invaders in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine. AP
    A farmer harvests his field 10 kilometres from the front line, where fierce battle continues between Ukrainian troops and Russian invaders in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine. AP
  • Serhiy, a farmer, shows grain in his barn in the village of Ptyche in Donetsk region. AP
    Serhiy, a farmer, shows grain in his barn in the village of Ptyche in Donetsk region. AP
  • Serhiy shows a mound of grain in his barn. AP
    Serhiy shows a mound of grain in his barn. AP
  • A burning field caused by the fighting at the front line in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine. AP
    A burning field caused by the fighting at the front line in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine. AP
  • A farmer tends to his grain stock near the front line in Dnipropetrovsk. AP
    A farmer tends to his grain stock near the front line in Dnipropetrovsk. AP
  • Harvesting in Dnipropetrovsk, with a crater left by a Russian rocket in the foreground. AP
    Harvesting in Dnipropetrovsk, with a crater left by a Russian rocket in the foreground. AP
  • Smoke rises in the background during fierce battle on the front line, while the harvest continues. AP
    Smoke rises in the background during fierce battle on the front line, while the harvest continues. AP
  • Ukraine hopes its vast grain stocks can be exported around the world as soon as possible, despite the continuing war with Russia. AP
    Ukraine hopes its vast grain stocks can be exported around the world as soon as possible, despite the continuing war with Russia. AP

Ukraine's war-hit wheat farmers fear for harvest as world clamours for grain


  • English
  • Arabic

Oleksandr Chubuk’s warehouse should be empty, awaiting the new harvest, with his supply of winter wheat already shipped abroad. Instead, his storage bins in central Ukraine are piled high with grain he cannot move because of the war with Russia.

The green spikes of wheat are already ripening. Soon, the horizon will look like the Ukrainian flag, a sea of gold beneath a blue sky. Mr Chubuk expects to reap about 500 tonnes but for the first time in his 30 years as a farmer, he is uncertain of what to do with it.

“Hope is the only thing I have now,” he said.

Serhiy, a farmer, does not know what to do with the growing mound of grain in his barn in Ptyche, Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. AP
Serhiy, a farmer, does not know what to do with the growing mound of grain in his barn in Ptyche, Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. AP

The war has trapped about 22 million tonnes of grain inside Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, a growing crisis for the country known as the “breadbasket of Europe” for its exports of wheat, corn and sunflower oil.

Before Russia’s invasion, Ukraine could export about 6 million to 7 million tonnes of grain a month, but last month it shipped only 2 million, the Ukrainian Grain Association said. Normally, about 30 per cent of its grain is exported to Europe, 30 per cent to North Africa and 40 per cent to Asia, said Mykola Horbachov, head of the association.

With Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, the fate of the coming harvest in Ukraine is in doubt. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation says the war is endangering food supplies for many developing nations and could worsen hunger for up to 181 million people.

Meanwhile, many farmers in Ukraine could go bankrupt. They are facing the most difficult situation since gaining independence in 1991, Mr Horbachov said.

A wheat field in the countryside of Siversk, eastern Ukraine, that was burnt after air strikes by the Russian army. AFP
A wheat field in the countryside of Siversk, eastern Ukraine, that was burnt after air strikes by the Russian army. AFP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country is working with the UN, Ukraine and Russia to find a solution, offering safe corridors in the Black Sea for wheat shipments.

For now, Ukraine is trying less effective alternatives to export its grain, at least to Europe. Currently, 30 per cent of exports go via three Danube ports in the south-west of the country.

Ukraine also is trying to ship grain via 12 border crossings with European countries, but lorries must queue up for days and Europe’s infrastructure cannot yet absorb such a volume, Mr Horbachov said.

“It’s impossible to build such infrastructure in one year,” he said.

Russia’s invasion also caused transportation costs to soar. The price of delivering this year’s harvested barley to the closest Romanian port, Constanta, is now about $160 to $180 per tonne, up from $40 to $45. And yet a farmer selling barley receives less than $100 per tonne.

Losses are piling up, along with the harvest.

Most of the farmers are running the risk of becoming bankrupt very soon. But they don’t have any other option but to sell their grain cheaper than its cost
Mykola Horbachov,
Ukrainian Grain Association

“Most of the farmers are running the risk of becoming bankrupt very soon. But they don’t have any other option but to sell their grain cheaper than its cost,” Mr Horbachov said.

On top of such challenges, not all farmers can sell.

Before the invasion, Mr Chubuk could sell a tonne of wheat from his farm in Kyiv region for about $270. Now he cannot find a buyer, even at $135 per tonne.

“The whole system backs up”, including storage options, said James Heneghan, senior vice president at Gro Intelligence, a global climate and agriculture data analytics company. The system was meant to keep Ukraine’s exports flowing, not store them.

Without money coming in for grain, future harvests are challenging. “Farmers need to purchase fertilisers, seeds, diesel, pay the salary,” Mr Horbachov said. “Ukrainian farmers can’t print money.”

The country has not yet run out of storage as the harvest begins.

Ukraine has about 60 million tonnes of commercial grain storage capacity, Mr Horbachov said, although 20 per cent of that is in Russian-occupied territories. Farmers themselves can store 18 million to 23 million tonnes, but some of that is also in occupied areas.

By the end of September, when the harvest of corn and sunflower seeds begins, Ukraine will face a shortage of storage capacity.

The FAO recently announced a $17 million project to help address the storage deficit. Mr Heneghan noted that one temporary solution could be providing farmers with silo bags for storage.

In eastern and southern regions near the front line, farmers continue to work their fields despite the threat to their lives.

“It can be finished in a moment by bombing, or as we see now, the fields are on fire,” said Yurii Vakulenko in the Dnipropetrovsk region, black smoke visible in the distance.

His workers risk their lives for little return, with storage depots now refusing to take their grain, he said.

Ukraine had a record-breaking grain harvest last year, collecting about 97 million tonnes. Even more had been expected this year.

Now, in the best-case scenario, farmers will harvest only 63 million tonnes of grain this year, Mr Horbachov estimated.

“Without opening the [Black Sea] ports, I don’t see any solution for Ukrainian farmers to survive,” he said. “And if they don’t survive, we won’t be able to feed African countries.”

RESULTS

Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) beat Ahmed Saeb (IRQ) by decision.

Women’s bantamweight
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) beat Cornelia Holm (SWE) by unanimous decision.

Welterweight
Omar Hussein (PAL) beat Vitalii Stoian (UKR) by unanimous decision.

Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) beat Ali Dyusenov (UZB) by unanimous decision.

Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) beat Delfin Nawen (PHI) TKO round-3.

Catchweight 80kg​​​​​​​
Seb Eubank (GBR) beat Emad Hanbali (SYR) KO round 1.

Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Ramadan Noaman (EGY) TKO round 2.

Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) beat Reydon Romero (PHI) submission 1.

Welterweight
Juho Valamaa (FIN) beat Ahmed Labban (LEB) by unanimous decision.

Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) beat Austin Arnett (USA) by unanimous decision.

Super heavyweight
Maciej Sosnowski (POL) beat Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) by submission round 1.

Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier

Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman

The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August

 

Group A

Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar

Group B

UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia

 

UAE group fixtures

Sunday Feb 23, 9.30am, v Iran

Monday Feb 25, 1pm, v Kuwait

Tuesday Feb 26, 9.30am, v Saudi

 

UAE squad

Ahmed Raza, Rohan Mustafa, Alishan Sharafu, Ansh Tandon, Vriitya Aravind, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Ayaz, Zahoor Khan, Chirag Suri, Sultan Ahmed

Contracted list

Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.

Crazy Rich Asians

Director: Jon M Chu

Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan

Four stars

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher:  Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

Mountain%20Boy
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Zainab%20Shaheen%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Naser%20Al%20Messabi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Super Bowl LIII schedule

What Super Bowl LIII

Who is playing New England Patriots v Los Angeles Rams

Where Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, United States

When Sunday (start time is 3.30am on Monday UAE time)

 

The five new places of worship

Church of South Indian Parish

St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch

St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch

St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais

Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais

 

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
  1. Join parent networks
  2. Look beyond school fees
  3. Keep an open mind
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League quarter-final (first-leg score):

Juventus (1) v Ajax (1), Tuesday, 11pm UAE

Match will be shown on BeIN Sports

Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.

As it stands in Pool A

1. Japan - Played 3, Won 3, Points 14

2. Ireland - Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1, Points 11

3. Scotland - Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1, Points 5

Remaining fixtures

Scotland v Russia – Wednesday, 11.15am

Ireland v Samoa – Saturday, 2.45pm

Japan v Scotland – Sunday, 2.45pm

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption. 

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks. 

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes. 

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion. 

8. Pillar 2 implementation 

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations. 

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity. 

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

'Champions'

Director: Manuel Calvo
Stars: Yassir Al Saggaf and Fatima Al Banawi
Rating: 2/5
 

Gertrude Bell's life in focus

A feature film

At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.

A documentary

A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.

Books, letters and archives

Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
 

The%20Roundup
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Lee%20Sang-yong%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Ma%20Dong-seok%2C%20Sukku%20Son%2C%20Choi%20Gwi-hwa%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Updated: July 10, 2022, 11:56 AM