| Shortly after the outbreak of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a wave of foreign companies left Russia. Most Western crop traders stayed put while touting the importance of their role in keeping grain flowing from the vital Black Sea breadbasket. But this week, their future has been quickly rewritten. The two biggest Western shippers of Russian grain, Cargill and Viterra, will halt purchases for export in a shift that will give local firms more control over shipments. The moves appeared to spook other traders, with Archer-Daniels-Midland now reviewing its stake in a sweetener and starch venture there. Even though agricultural products are not under sanction, the war had already made trade more complicated and foreign traders have faced some Russian government pressure to leave. Some food and agriculture companies have been scaling back their operations or investments over the past year. Another big trader, Bunge, already left Russia last year. Russia is the world's largest exporter of wheat and a key contributor to global food security. Its grain is expected to continue to flow out. But changes will come. As Bloomberg Opinion's Javier Blas argues, just as in the oil trade, Russian grain will move into the shadows and without Western traders present, Washington and Brussels will lose a key source of intelligence: "If anything, the Kremlin will have a stronger say about where — and at what price — its grain goes, a potent economic weapon. Obscurity, money and political influence is what Putin will get." —Agnieszka de Sousa in London | 
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