Bankers' Case: Rumas Was the Main Target

Perhaps he met with someone, which caused fears among the Belarusian authorities.

Two weeks ago, Belarusian security forces detained several former and current bankers, as well as co-owner of the Turau Dairy Plant Ihar Charniauski. All of them, in one way or another, were connected with ex-Prime Minister Siarhei Rumas, who on January 17 went to his son's birthday in London and never visited Belarus again. Informed sources believe that Rumas was the main target of the authorities.

According to tut.by, the security officials' questions concern the resources of state banks, which were used to finance projects of private companies and state-owned woodworking plants.

Charniauski

One of these projects is the Turau Dairy Plant (TMK). Siarhei Rumas stood at the origins of its creation when he, then the head of Belagroprombank, went on business trips to Italy - there, he got carried away with local soft cheeses and proposed to create such production in Belarus. Moreover, the bank had a subsidiary agricultural enterprise Turaushchyna on its balance sheet. The goal was to provide high added value milk processing.

In 2010, in addition to Turaushchyna and Belagroprombank, the founder of TMK was Premierleasing, controlled by businessman Ihar Charniauski, who was detained by the security forces on February 2.

The construction of the plant became part of the state program for the development of the Prypiats Palesse. Lukashenka asked Rumas to supervise this project when he transferred him from the post of Deputy Prime Minister to the post of Chairman of the Board of the Development Bank.

- Your homeland and my favorite place is Prypiats, Turaushchyna. There we started an ambitious project. As the Deputy Prime Minister, you were interested in and supervised this project. I would like you not to leave this project," Lukashenka said in 2012.

The first stage of the plant was launched in 2013. But the company faced several problems: a shortage of funds and a weak raw material zone. As a new investor, Interservice attracted Mikalai Varabei and Aliaksandr Shakutin, who managed to earn money on the sale of solvents and thinners. However, they soon withdrew from the project.

Along with this, Charniauski had problems. He parted ways with his Ukrainian partner Mikalai Lahun, his chain of stores Rodnaya Storona went bankrupt, creditors demanded a refund. According to journalists, Rumas had to help Charniauski solve the problems that arose. At the same time, TMK needed new resources for development. They were provided by the Development Bank and new shareholders represented by the Baiko brothers from Conte Spa. A total of 115 million euros were invested in the project.

Recently, the plant's management announced that, by the end of 2020, TMK entered a profitable job and promised to pay off investment loans by 2027.

It is not known what is charged against Ihar Charniauski, a member of the Council for the Development of Entrepreneurship.

Bankers

Among the detainees was another friend of Rumas - Henadz Sysoeu.

Both graduated from the Yaroslavl Higher Military Financial School and the Academy of Management under the President and worked together in Belarusbank. Sysoeu has been Rumas' deputy since the mid-2000s when he headed Belagroprombank. Then they parted ways, as Rumas went on promotion to the government.

In 2014, Henadz Sysoeu became the head of Belinvestbank. But after 2 years, he unexpectedly left him it. The financial institution's press service claimed that it was "for family reasons." But, according to unofficial information, questions arose from the competent authorities. However, no charges were filed.

Soon Sysoeu became the head of Borisovdrev, which the Development Bank, along with other woodworking enterprises, was supposed to revive after the overwhelmed modernization. According to journalists, Rumas put in a word for Sysoeu, so the banker was sent to raise the problematic enterprise. A few years later, Henadz Sysoeu became an acting director of the Belarusian Forest Company. He was also detained on February 2.

Among the detainees were several active bankers. In particular, we are talking about the deputy chairmen of the board of Belagroprombank Uladzimir Padkavyrau and Natallia Shautsova. Padkavyrau headed the bank from 2011 to 2014, after Rumas became Deputy Prime Minister. It was he who, at the initial stage, oversaw the construction of a dairy plant in Turau. Shautsova has been working at Belagroprombank since 1994. In her current position, she oversees interaction with government authorities and also heads the bank's credit committee and the local Women's Union.

Tatstsiana Sasnouskaya is also among the detainees. She also comes from Belagroprombank, where she worked for 18 years. When the Development Bank was created in 2011, she moved to work there.

Before Rumas was appointed the head of the board, she was already acting as the structure's head. In 2013, Sasnouskaya was appointed First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of the Development Bank. She was in charge of lending to government programs, attracting corporate clients, woodworking. For several months, Sasnouskaya was acting chairman of the Development Bank board when Rumas was appointed prime minister.

In October 2020, Aliaksei Zhyrankou, director of BR-Consult, a subsidiary of the Development Bank, which manages the Borwood holding of woodworking industry organizations, and the Executive Director of the Development Bank Iryna Kanepa, who by the nature of her activities in the bank was associated with the development of woodworking enterprises transferred to the BR management. Questions also arose to the director of the Polish subsidiary Borwood, Mikhail Haradko. At the same time, at the end of 2020, the preventive measure was changed for all three, and they were released. In this case, Sasnouskaya was summoned for questioning in the DFR. But then she was not detained.

Attack on Rumas

Sources interviewed by journalists are confident that the "attack on Rumas" is behind these arrests.

The interlocutors noted that the controllers' claims to the Turau Dairy Plant owners appeared at least a year ago.

- But then Rumas, being prime minister, managed to defend Charniauski from pressure from the State Control Committee leadership. It would seem that the story is overplayed. But now, they have returned to the case again. And the only version is to weaken the position of Rumas. Yes, he did not speak about the events after the elections (the photo with his wife on the Development Bank roof does not count) and did not declare his political ambitions. But we must understand that many people like him both in the Kremlin and the West. Perhaps he met with someone, which caused certain concerns among the Belarusian authorities, including the special services, - the interlocutors believe.