Cyprus Co helps Belarus entity move agricultural fertilizers to Russia in breach of EU sanctions.

SPEED READ

• A mysterious Cyprus-based company is being paid millions by the Belarusian government to facilitate its trade in potash through Russia’s Port of St. Petersburg.
• The company, Dimicandum, doesn’t have a website or a public track record of working in logistics, but has been contracted to move potash exports the short distance from St. Petersburg’s train station to its port.
• Although on paper owned by a Cyprus citizen, leaked documents show power of attorney for the company was held by a former Belarusian official who worked under Lukashenko’s right-hand-man, Viktor Sheiman.
• A leaked internal report from a Belarusian government agency flagged the fees being paid to Dimicandum as “unjustified”.

INTRODUCTION

In 2022, the EU blacklisted Belarus’ state producer of potash, a mineral product used in agricultural fertilizers around the world.

The measure made it illegal for EU companies to do business with the sanctioned firm, whose global exports are a key source of cash for Belarus’ authoritarian regime.

Yet leaked documents reveal that a mysterious company registered in Cyprus has nevertheless struck multi-million-dollar deals with the potash producer to help move the commodity through Russia in recent years.

Contracts obtained by our partners, the Belarusian Investigative Centre, show

• The Cypriot firm was set to earn $68.6 million from Belarus’ state potash producer in 2023 to transport 3.4 million tons of potash fertilizers the short distance from St. Petersburg’s train station to ship in the city’s port.

The company, Dimicandum, doesn’t have a website or a public track record of working in logistics. 

A document leaked to reporters from a Belarusian state organization raises additional questions about its involvement, as it described some of the planned payments to Dimicandum as financially “unjustified.”

The individuals behind the Cyprus-registered company also draw attention.

• Leaked documents show that a former high-level official from Alexander Lukashenko’s administration was granted power-of-attorney of the firm.
• His signature is on the potash contracts.

One expert said the arrangement could be an example of a scheme in which intermediaries are used to siphon funds. Lev lvovskiy, academic director of the Belarusian economic think tank BEROC, said

• “It is usual for Belarus, when something produced by the government is exported, [that] there is some intermediary firm, which is some small link on the way, and then this firm collects most of the money and it's just corruption,”

SOURCES TO GET THE WHOLE STORY:

• https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/a-murky-cypriot-firm-is-helping-belarus-export-potash-in-breach-of-eu-sanctions
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/the-organized-crime-and-corruption-reporting-project_sanctions-belarus-cyprus-activity-7227381295671037954-dnn5?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios