The head of the bakery owners’ syndicate in Mount Lebanon and Beirut, Ali Ibrahim, on Wednesday announced his resignation from his position and said that he could not do anything anymore to protect the noble bakery owners.

“After the acute increase in the severity of the recurrent bread-making industry crisis and bearing the responsibility on the bakery owners, I could not be a false witness to all that is happening in this sector,” Ibrahim said in a statement. 

Lebanon, in addition to its unprecedented economic crisis, was affected by the war in Ukraine leading to wheat shortages. It has been witnessing in recent weeks congestion and long queues at the doors of the bakeries as the country suffers from a severe bread crisis. 

Last Thursday, a World Bank loan of $150 million to Lebanon was approved by the parliamentary committees to finance wheat imports. The loan, which was approved by the World Bank on May 6, was made to help Lebanon fund wheat imports and keep bread prices stable. 

Yet, bakeries are accused of purchasing and warehousing large quantities of wheat with the intent of benefiting from the subsidized wheat and the future price increases. 

Last month, Economy Minister Amin Salam said that the percentage of wheat smuggled out of the country has reached a rate of 40 percent of the wheat entering Lebanon, and bread bundles are being smuggled to Syria on mules.