“There are two reasons why we did not accept [the Romanian company]: the low-gluten Romania wheat we received from Lebanese company GT Group (which bought Romanian wheat i.e.),” is the explanation given by Hassan I. Ibrahim, general manager of the Grain Board, the state-run institution in charge of the international wheat purchases made by Iraq.
The official did not provide any further details on the technical specifications that the wheat produced in Romania was supposed to meet in order to get the green light.
Grain traders contacted by Ziarul Financiar say GT Group is an unknown player on the Romanian market of farming products. Information on this company is not available on the internet, either.
But official data shows that that wheat exports from Romania to Iraq are a business controlled by Lebanese businesspeople.
The only company that holds an export license for this market is Agro Chirnogi. The business is part of the Maria group, controlled by several Lebanese businesspeople. Agro Chirnogi is also one of the largest grain producers in Romania, with the company exploiting around 10,000 hectares of land.
Officials of the Agency for Payments and Interventions in Agriculture say however that Romanian wheat can also end up on the Iraqi market without an export license.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)