WSJ: "Wagner" Is Shipping Gold From Africa To Belarus

18.10.2026, 15:21
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The group's African business operations are led by 28-year-old Pavel Prigozhin.

For the past three months, gold from the Central African Republic—whose mining is controlled by Wagner—has been shipped to Belarus. The Belarusian connection is described in an article WSJ about the 28-year-old heir to the founder of Wagner. The newspaper cites officials, former Wagner associates, and researchers studying the group’s activities.

According to the publication, in April Pavel Prigozhin gathered representatives of Wagner and the government at a hotel in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic.

They discussed how to maintain gold exports while avoiding international scrutiny and bypassing markets in the United Arab Emirates.

Following the talks, the CAR’s minister of mining agreed to assist with documents designating the gold as state property, sources told the WSJ. According to officials and local researchers, these shipments have been heading to Belarus for the past three months.

Pavel Prigozhin inherited the fortune after his father died in a plane crash in August 2023—two months after the “Wagner” mutiny. He was 25 at the time.

He was previously known as a lover of private jets and luxury yachts, but his father had been preparing his son in advance to manage the family business. Until the age of 20, Pavel Prigozhin managed the family’s luxury mansions and property; later, he participated in military operations in Syria and Ukraine, where he served as a drone operator and intelligence officer.

The Central African Republic has become the hub of his current business. According to the WSJ, Prigozhin commands about 500 mercenaries. They guard President Fosten-Arkanja Touadéra, fight against rebels, and wield influence within local security forces.

Prigozhin regularly flies to Bangui from St. Petersburg and stays at the Ledger Plaza Hotel, which effectively serves as his headquarters. Armed guards even search high-ranking officials who come for meetings.

According to estimates by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, the annual output of the largest gold mine controlled by the group is worth up to $250 million.

Researchers estimate the total annual revenue of the family business—both legal and criminal—at more than $400 million.

In addition to gold, Prigozhin’s organizations, according to the investigation, profit from supplying weapons to armed groups in Sudan and Libya, producing beer and vodka, and controlling a significant portion of the local market for tramadol—an opioid painkiller.

Following the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, Moscow attempted to bring Wagner’s African operations under the control of the Ministry of Defense through the newly created “African Corps.” However, in the Central African Republic, his son retained control: according to diplomats, Touadéra himself asked the Kremlin not to replace Wagner Group members with Russian military personnel.

Researchers speculate that Pavel Prigozhin may have reached an agreement with the Kremlin to continue operations. Meanwhile, Wagner’s structures continue to fund pro-Russian propaganda in the CAR.

Belarus has previously been linked to Wagner’s logistics operations in Africa. In November 2023, iSANS reported on an Il-76 flight from Bobruisk to Bangui, and in September 2024, there was a flight from Orsha to the CAR’s capital. Researchers speculated that the planes might have been transporting mercenaries or their equipment.

Following Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny in June 2023, some of the mercenaries relocated to Belarus. In July, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense officially announced that Wagner Group members were training Belarusian territorial forces near Osipovichi.

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WSJ: "Wagner" Is Shipping Gold From Africa To Belarus

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