[Epoch Times, August 1, 2022](Epoch Times reporter Lin Nan comprehensive report) Ukrainian food tycoon was killed by a Russian missile at his home on Saturday (July 30). The Ukrainian government denounced it as a targeted bombing by Russia.
Nikolayev Governor Vitaliy Kim said Oleksiy Vadaturksy, founder and owner of Nibulon, one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural companies, and his wife Lai Raisa was killed in the Russian attack on the Nikolayev region.
The governor said on Telegram that the couple were killed at their home in the city of Nikolayev, which was shelled Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Vada Tursky, 74, a major player in Ukraine’s grain export industry, was awarded the “Hero of Ukraine” in 2007, the country’s highest honor.
The governor praised the businessman’s “invaluable contribution to (Ukrainian) agriculture and shipbuilding, local development.”
Headquartered in Nikolayev, Nibulon specializes in the production and export of wheat, barley and corn, and has its own fleet and shipyard.
Mykolaiv is a city in southern Ukraine that has come under heavy Russian artillery fire since Russia launched its invasion in February.
An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Vada Turski was targeted by Russian forces when the missile landed in his bedroom.
Vada Tursky was one of the richest and most prominent businessmen in Ukraine. According to the Kyiv Independent, Vada Turski’s net worth is estimated to reach $400 million in 2021.
Zelensky said the death of the founder and owner of the Ukrainian agricultural company Nibulon was “a huge loss for the whole of Ukraine,” Al Jazeera reported.
Zelensky said in a statement that the businessman has been building a modern grain market that includes a transshipment terminal and a network of elevators.
Zelensky: War could halve grain harvests
Ukraine’s president said the country’s harvest could be half what it was in previous years because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Ukraine’s harvest this year is under threat of doubling its production,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter in English, meaning half the usual.
“Our main goal is to stop the Russian invasion from causing a global food crisis. An alternative delivery method has been found for stranded grains,” he added.
Ukraine, a major global supplier of grains, has struggled to get product to buyers as the Russian navy has blocked Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
Zelensky said, “We are fully prepared. We have sent all the signals to our partners – the United Nations and Turkey, and our military has ensured the security situation. The infrastructure minister is in direct contact with the Turkish side and the United Nations. , we’re waiting for them to signal that we can start.”
Zelensky believes that lifting the barriers to Ukrainian grain exports will make it possible to avoid food shortages, as well as hunger and political chaos in countries that need food products.
“It is important to us that Ukraine remains the guarantor of global food security,” he stressed.
Russia and Ukraine, the world‘s biggest suppliers of wheat, signed a UN-brokered deal last week in Istanbul, Turkey, aimed at easing the food crisis and reducing global food prices that have risen since the Russian invasion.
A spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there was a high probability that the first grain export ship would leave Ukrainian ports on Monday (August 1).
Responsible editor: Lin Yan#