Zimbabwean Media Report On Lukashenka-Related Scandals

Diamonds and dump trucks come to mind.

Belarusian dictator Lukashenka begins a visit to Zimbabwe today. The New Zimbabwe writes about internal scandals related to his regime.

The first one is associated with the purchase of fire engines by the Zimbabwean government in Belarus last year. Local authorities "never asked for them". The deal, which was to have been carried out at the expense of local budgets (70 trucks for $32 million), was condemned by both pro-governmental and opposition MPs.

Another scandal involved the sale of diamonds. The government had chosen friendly Belarusian companies to sell diamonds to.

Besides, the publication referred to the purchase of supposedly Belarusian (according to other sources - Chinese) buses, which also caused a controversy.

Another story is not mentioned in New Zimbabwe. In 2022, the Zim GoldFields company, associated with the son of Viktar Sheiman, a close associate of Aliaksandr Lukashenka, was the subject of a scandal in Zimbabwe. The firm was sued for mining gold without the permission of the owners of the territory.

As Charter97.org wrote, Lukashenka may have another business interest in Zimbabwe - arms trade. It is known that Aliaksandr Zingman, a businessman close to the dictator, is in charge of arms deliveries to this African country.