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Greetings From Amsterdam,
This week we explore Belarus’ exportation of potash, a key ingredient in fertilizers and an economic lifeline for President Alexander Lukashenko's authoritarian regime. Reporters discovered that despite EU sanctions, a mysterious Cyprus-owned company is being paid millions to facilitate the trade – and that its chief financial officer used to work in Lukashenko’s administration.
We also expose the growing collection of Russian properties owned by the family of Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who swore he would divest from Russia when he founded the ruling Georgia Dream party in 2011. His party has triggered massive protests and condemnation from the West over the past year for passing Russian-style legislation that critics say will be used to suppress independent voices.
Here’s the latest in global crime and corruption:
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NEW INVESTIGATIONS
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A Murky Cypriot Firm Is Helping Belarus Export Potash — In Breach of EU Sanctions
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What is potash?
Potash, a mineral resource extracted from deep underground, is a crucial component of agricultural fertilizers used to boost crop quality and yield around the world.
What does it mean for Belarus?
This demand is particularly beneficial for Belarus, home to the world's second largest potash reserve after Canada. For years, potash exports have provided a key source of revenue for Lukashenko’s government, accounting for some 4% of the country’s GDP.
How did sanctions affect the potash trade?
The U.S. blacklisted Belarus’ state-owned potash producer Belaruskali in 2021 in response to the government’s brutal crackdown on protesters a year earlier. The following year, the EU banned all potash imports from Belarus over the country’s assistance in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Since then, trains carrying Belaruskali potash have been diverted from Lithuania – previously the launchpad for shipments sent around the world – to the port of St. Petersburg in Russia.
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Why does this still involve a breach of sanctions?
An investigation by our partner, the Belarusian Investigative Center ([link removed]) (BIC) found Belaruskali has been paying a Cyprus-registered intermediary, Dimicandum Invest Holding Ltd., millions of dollars to move its potash from St. Petersburg’s train station onto vessels in the city’s port.
Since Dimicandum is registered in the EU, this violates the sanctions that bar the bloc’s firms from providing services or products to sanctioned entities like Belaruskali.
What’s the connection to Lukashenko?
While Dimicandum is owned and directed by a Cypriot citizen, the potash contracts were signed by the company’s chief financial officer – who is also the former deputy chief of Belarus’s Presidential Property Management Department. During his time in government, Sviridov served under one of Lukashenko’s closest allies, Viktor Sheiman.
One expert said the arrangement could be an example of a “common scheme for Belarus” in which intermediaries are used to siphon off funds.
>> Read the full story ([link removed])
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Watch the full video investigation from BIC (subtitles on)
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THE SCOOP | Family of Georgian Oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili has Unreported Real Estate in Russia
Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, seen as the country's informal ruler, vowed to cut ties with Russia when he entered politics in 2012, but reporters have discovered his wife recently expanded her holdings in Russia.
The Real Estate: The previously unreported real estate includes a second home and three plots of land near Peredelkino, an elite dacha settlement outside Moscow. Based on the prices of comparable properties, reporters estimate the holdings to be worth at least $14.7 million in total. Newly unearthed documents also show the family’s family’s first Russian residence — a large house in an upscale Moscow district is now being rented out.
Why This Matters: For many reasons, ties to Russia are politically sensitive in Georgia. The two countries' strained relationship dates back to the 1990s when two Georgian territories seceded with Russian support, culminating in a brief war in 2008 and ongoing frozen diplomatic relations. Over the past year, Ivanishvili’s ruling Georgia Dream party has been accused of steering the country away from the West, passing controversial legislation that has thrown the country’s EU prospects into question and triggered U.S. sanctions.
>> Get the scoop ([link removed])
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MORE OCCRP REPORTING
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Ex-Azerbaijani Banker's Wife Forfeits Luxury U.K. Properties
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After having nearly $2 million worth of jewellery seized by U.K. authorities, the wife of jailed Azerbaijani banker Jahangir Hajiyev has now agreed to forfeit her $17.8 million home in London’s Knightsbridge, as well as a golf club in Ascot, Berkshire.
Why? In 2018, Zamira Hajiyeva became the subject of the U.K.’s first-ever Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO), which meant a failure to explain the source of her suspiciously large fortune could lead to her assets being seized by the state.
The Money Trail: The U.K.’s National Crime Agency believes both the house and the golf club were obtained as a direct result of large-scale fraud, embezzlement, false accounting, and money laundering. Their six-year investigation found numerous examples of funds derived from the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) — where Hajiyeva’s husband was previously chairman — being used to purchase luxury assets for the family.
Impact: This is the third major civil recovery investigation ([link removed]) by U.K. authorities into funds connected to the Azerbaijani Laundromat ([link removed]) , a multi-billion-pound money laundering scheme that involved the IBA and was exposed by OCCRP in 2017.
>> Read the full story ([link removed])
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THE OCCRP NETWORK
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INVESTIGACE.CZ: Part 4 of our Czech member center’s “Mafia” series ([link removed]) explores the deep ties between post-Soviet criminal organizations and Russia’s political elite.
OXPECKERS: Communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) say they are being excluded from decision-making on mining permits ([link removed]) for cobalt, copper, and lithium, despite laws requiring such consultations, our South African member center reports.
Daraj: A proposal to legalize the marriage of girls as young as nine ([link removed]) is being drafted in Iraq. While the law’s backers have claimed it will offer unprecedented rights to women by lowering the age of inheritance, the legislation has triggered strong opposition from women and children’s rights advocates.
** CORRUPTION NEWS
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Kenya: Kenya's Aviation Workers Union is threatening to strike unless the government drops a controversial proposal to lease Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to India's Adani Group ([link removed]) , a massive conglomerate trailed by scandal.
United States: The U.S. has imposed new sanctions on Paraguayan tobacco company Tabesa ([link removed]) for financially supporting former President Horacio Cartes, who was previously sanctioned for alleged corruption and ties to terrorism.
** ORGANIZED CRIME NEWS
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Drug Smuggling: The ringleader of a gang that attempted to smuggle £11 million ($14.1 million) worth of cocaine into the U.K. via a banana shipment ([link removed]) was convicted last week. Sajid Ali, who directed the operation from afar using WhatsApp, was arrested in January before boarding a flight to Istanbul.
Bank Scams : Two scammers charged with developing and administering the fake caller app “Russian Coms” ([link removed]) were arrested in the U.K. this week. According to authorities, fraudsters using the service spoofed bank numbers to persuade victims to transfer their money to another account, defrauding hundreds of thousands of people out of millions of dollars.
P.S. Thank you for reading the OCCRP newsletter. Feel free to reply with any feedback.
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