Investigative Journalists: Belarus Circumvents Sanctions And Supplies Luxury Cars To Russia

Lukashenka’s entourage makes money by circumventing sanctions.

Western countries imposed sanctions on different goods and services after Russia started the full-scale war against Ukraine. Trade in luxury cars with Russia also fell under the sanctions. However, they are using Belarus to deliver luxury cars to Russia. This is stated in the joint investigation by the Bureau, Verstka and Belarusian Cyber-Partisans.

Investigators studied customs data and concluded that about 1000 cars from Europe and the United States worth more than $100 million were imported into Russia through Belarus.

Sanctions prohibit the sale and delivery of cars worth more than 50,000 euros to Russia. However, restrictions do not apply to Belarus. Journalists found out that Belarusian companies took advantage of this loophole and organized “parallel imports” of premium cars.

The investigation indicates that supplies of cars from the EU to Belarus increased fourfold - to almost 1.5 billion euros, and in 2023 deliveries exceeded 1.7 billion euros, after the outbreak of war and subsequent sanctions against Russia. Customs cases have information about the countries of origin of these cars: Germany, the USA, Great Britain, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Ireland and Belgium. The manufacturers: Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Lamborghini, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and others. Almost 60,000 vehicles were exported from these countries to Belarus over the nine months in 2023.

More than 30 Belarusian companies supply premium Western cars from Belarus to Russia. At least five of them are associated with the Belarusian authorities. Thus, the Zip-Line company is owned by Andrei Piskarou. He began his career in the Belarusian MFA, and then worked for a major businessman Yury Chyzh, who was called Lukashenka’s “moneybag”.

Zip-Line company supplied Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini and Bentley cars to Russia for a total amount of about $5 million.

Another company associated with the Belarusian authorities is Atlant-M Britania. The company supplied Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and other cars to Russia worth almost $5 million from January to October this year.

Over the ten months of 2023, the Custom-Service company exported luxury cars from Belarus to Russia worth more than $8.5 million. The company is headed by Vital Sabaleuski, the Deputy Chairman of the Association of Customs Brokers of Belarus.

Investigators also found out that Feliks Dziaranau, the son of former high-ranking Interior Troops servicemen Ihar Dziaranau, owns the Techno-Jet Group company, which, according to customs data, supplied premium German-made Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Porsche cars to Russia. The total cost of the cars is more than $15 million.

The Premialnaya Transportnaya Kompaniya owned by Russian citizen Akhmad Abuev, as indicated in the investigation, delivered luxury cars to Russia with a total value of more than $15.6 million over the ten months in 2023. According to Abuev’s social media pages, he is associated with the Russian-registered City Transport Company (GTK Auto), which is engaged in the parallel import [refers to the import of goods into the country without proper agreement with the holder of the trademark - Ed.] of cars and trucks from Europe, the UAE and China.