Own investigation based on information from “Pandora’s Dossier” was published on October 4 on “Belsat” TV channel. It is dedicated to the secrets of relations between Belarus and Zimbabwe. An international team of journalists, in particular, found out that the son of Viktor Sheiman, the former manager of the president’s affairs, is associated with the gold mining business in this African country. In total, the Pandora Dossier includes about 140 companies that are related to Belarus. What else do the authors of the investigation intend to publish, and can the publication of these materials affect Lukashenka and his entourage?
African gold in exchange for Belarusian equipment?
A team of journalists from Belarus, Lithuania and Zimbabwe has been working on the Belarusian case within the Pandora Dossier for several months.
Ales Yaroshevich
“Relations between Belarus and Zimbabwe have been developing quite intensively since about 2015, the peak was in 2017 – 2019. Belarusian officials have repeatedly traveled to Zimbabwe and agreed on contracts for the supply of equipment, and in return received the right to mine gold. these contracts were received not by the Belarusian state, but by people close to Lukashenka, “notes one of the authors of the investigation, Belarusian journalist Ales Yaroshevich.
According to the head of the Lithuanian Center for Investigative Journalism Siena Sarunas Chernyauskas, in the future the journalists intend to find out whether a barter was organized between Belarus and Zimbabwe: gold in exchange for Belarusian equipment.
Sarunas Cherniauskas
“This is not in the documents that we received in Zimbabwe and in the public domain in Belarus. We do not know exactly how and with what amounts Zimbabwe paid for the equipment with Belarus,” said Chernyauskas. “This issue is very important if there is evidence that the Belarusian equipment went to Africa, and gold went to someone’s pocket, and not to the Belarusian budget. “
Nothing personal, just business?
Senior analyst of the Center for New Ideas, ex-diplomat Pavel Matsukevich also believes that the main question is whether offshore companies are connected with criminal activity, financial withdrawal, damage to Belarus. At the same time, he draws attention to the fact that such schemes in relation to business in Africa look like a completely logical attempt to optimize costs and trade.
Pavel Matsukevich
“I don’t think that foreign business operates in any other way on this continent. African countries have no money to pay for, say, Belarusian equipment, and banks have no desire to finance an export deal, because there is no trust in the financial solvency of an African buyer. This could put an end to the theory of the development of Africa by Belarusian state-owned enterprises, if not for the decisions from above, “says Matsukevich.” , earn. Again, the question is whether there is illegal activity, crime, damage to Belarus. “
How will Belarus and the West react to the investigation?
“The significance of the investigation is, first of all, that it shows that the offshore practices that are so widespread in the Kremlin are not so alien to Lukashenka’s entourage,” said Vitis Yurkonis, a Lithuanian political scientist, head of the Lithuanian office of Freedom House, in a comment for DW. According to him, the investigation shows how things are going in Belarus and draws attention to people in Lukashenka’s entourage, about whom little was known before, in particular, to the son of ex-managerial affairs of President Sergei Sheiman and businessman, honorary consul of Belarus in Zimbabwe, Alexander Zingman. …
Vitis Jurkonis
“I wonder how the UK will react to one of these institutions (the British company Midlands Goldfields Foundation. – Ed.) and the United States on the actions of his citizen (Zingman has US citizenship. – Ed.) “, – adds Yurkonis.
Meanwhile, Pavel Matsukevich does not think that the investigation will cause a resonance in Belarus, similar to the one that the publication of such materials has in Western countries, where such scandals lead to the end of the careers of politicians involved in them.
“In Belarus, there is only one politician – Lukashenka. The fate of serious businesses and political careers depends on him, and not on a leak, scandal or connections with crimes or fraud. “Lukashenka himself, it is very doubtful that this could fundamentally affect the situation in Belarus,” says Matsukevich.
The authors of the investigation themselves also do not expect that it will entail criminal cases or resignations in Belarus, but hope for a reaction from European structures and a possible extension of sanctions against specific people and enterprises.
“Belarus is now in the focus of attention in connection with the events in our country and tough repressions against opponents of Alexander Lukashenko, I do not exclude that some of the heroes of Pandora’s Dossier may fall under sanctions,” says Ales Yaroshevich.
“Of course, it is very important that the Belarusians know (about the investigation. – Ed.), even in such an environment, with the control of information, the closure of independent media outlets and the announcement of them as extremists, “adds Sarunas Chernyauskas.
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