Superflux couriers

Two months ago, a business connected to him transported a new German Mercedes-Benz S680 Maybach from Minsk to a stockroom in the Moscow area worth $300,000. This is one of a thousand cars that were banned but managed to get from Europe to the garages of wealthy Russians via Belarus this year.

WATCH OUT FOR CARS!

With the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine, world-renowned car brands announced a boycott of Russia. One by one, they left the Russian market, leaving it to the Chinese. The governments of the United States, the EU and the United Kingdom also decided to punish the Putin regime and imposed sanctions on luxury goods. A ban was imposed on cars costing more than 50,000 euros.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen explained that the ban is aimed at Russian elites. Russian oligarchs, word shakers and deputies like to drive expensive cars.

This is where Belarusians helped out and participated in a scheme named “parallel import”, which was arranged by the Russian government. Belarus is not affected by Western car-related sanctions. And so a flood of EU cars entered our country.

Against the backdrop of the conflict, car exports from the EU to Belarus surged by four times, reaching almost 1.5 billion euros in 2022. As of this year, they have exceeded 1.7 billion euros. The main suppliers are Germany, Lithuania and Poland. In just nine months of this year, almost 60,000 cars were exported from the three countries to Belarus.

Despite our source’s claim that European companies are attempting to monitor their vehicle deliveries to prevent resale to Russia, it happens anyway. Some contracts with Belarusian dealers explicitly prohibit re-export. Such requirements have been in effect before, but now they are conditioned by sanctions.

But the ban on re-exporting cars is easily circumvented by those eager to make money. For this purpose, straw companies are used. In general, the method to avoid sanctions is straightforward – middlemen from Belarus act as intermediaries in the connection between the EU and Russia.

We decided to investigate the situation and find out who in Belarus is helping Russia to evade European sanctions.

WELL-CONNECTED BUSINESSMEN

We have customs data that shows about a thousand cars shipped from Belarus to Russia, valued at more than $100 million. Together with Verstka journalists, we analyzed this data. The list includes mostly new and expensive cars. Customs declarations show that these cars originated in Germany, the USA, the UK, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Ireland and Belgium and that their manufacturers include Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Lamborghini, Jaguar Land Rover and Volvo. Some of the items are interesting and quite expensive.

Over 30 Belarusian firms make their living from exporting high-end cars made by Western brands in Belarus to Russia. Of these, we have identified top 5 exporters, which stand out from the crowd in terms of sales volumes and their owners’ connections with the Belarusian authorities. Among them are both mastodons of the domestic automotive market and newly created companies.

The Zip-Line company took fifth place in our rating.

Its head and owner is Andrei Piskarou. He graduated from Belarusian State University and began his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Then he started working for a wealthy entrepreneur named Yury Chyzh, who was known as Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s “moneybag”.

In the early 2010s, Piskarou became a co-owner of several companies selling passenger cars in Belarus. One of them is Ace Motors.

It used to be called Triple Auto. Piskarou’s partners in this company were Siarhei Chyzh and Dzmitry Aleksin. The former is Yury Chyzh’s son, while the latter is the son of Aliaksei Aleksin, who is also a powerful businessman and has been sanctioned by the West for being Lukashenka’s “moneybag”.

Judging by social media posts, Piskarou is also fond of motorcycles. His Instagram shows a picture of himself wearing the uniform of the HOG Minsk Chapter Belarus biker club, which brings together Harley-Davidson owners.

Andrei Piskarou (center)

Viktar Lukashenka, a popular enthusiast of riding big motorbikes, attends meetings of this motorcycle club. On Piskarou’s social media, we found a picture of him with Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s cronies, such as his media spokesperson, Natallia Eismant, and a businessman who is also a hockey coach named Dzmitry Baskau.

From left to right: Andrei Piskarou, Natallia Eismant, Dzmitry Baskau (fourth from the left)

Zip-Line provided costly British, Italian, and German-made Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, and Bentley vehicles to Russia. The total cost of the cars is above $4.8 million. Andrei Piskarou refused to comment on these deliveries by phone and did not answer our messages.

Number four on our shortlist is Atlant-M Britania.

This is the official representative of the British luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover in Belarus. From January to October of this year, the company supplied almost $5 million worth of luxury Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and other car models to Russia.

The primary proprietor of Atlant-M Britania is the Cypriot business Max Atlant-M Limited. Half of this firm’s shares belong to businessman Siarhei Savitski while the remaining shares are owned by a hidden figure through the Cypriot business service provider Cyproman Services Limited.

But in the latest available report, Max Atlant-M Limited revealed its ultimate beneficiaries. At the beginning of 2021, they were Siarhei Savitski and Aleh Khusajenau.

In 2021, Ezhednevnik ranked Khusajenau 35th and Savitski 49th among the most successful and influential businessmen, with Savitski closing the top 50.

From left to right: Siarhei Savitski, Aleh Khusajenau

Back in the 1990s, the entrepreneurs established the Atlant-M brokerage company. Initially, they focused on delivering Volkswagen cars.

Over time, the company has expanded to numerous showrooms, vending popular car brands, such as Mazda, Toyota, Ford, Land Rover, Lexus, Kia, and Jaguar, not only in Belarus but also in Ukraine and Russia.

In Russia, Siarhei Savitski is listed as a co-owner of at least two dozen companies. Among them is Avtotsentr Atlant-M, which has a website allowing Russians to purchase cars from Europe.

Some of the holding companies actively cooperate with Russian government agencies. For example, the company MB-Izmailovo, in which Savitski has a 25% stake, has been working for the past three years under contracts with the 3179 military unit – the Vityaz Special Operations Centre.

It’s recognized as the top special force of the Russian Guard, whose soldiers have fought in various military conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, Ingushetia, and North and South Ossetia. In 2022, the elite soldiers were sent to fight against Ukraine. Reuters journalists reported that Vityaz was among the occupying forces entering Bucha.

MB-Izmailovo concluded the most recent contract to maintain and repair military vehicle equipment with this unit in December 2021.

It was valid until December 2022 but completed four months earlier.

Siarhei Savitski holds citizenships in Belarus and Russia. However, this does not hinder him from conducting business in Ukraine. Several dealerships operate under the Atlant-M brand in Kharkiv, Dnipro and Kyiv. Siarhei Savitski was a beneficiary of many companies, but now his name is not mentioned in Ukrainian registries. It’s unclear whether the businessman sold his assets or gave them to trusted individuals.

Siarhei Savitski has his own sanctuary in the suburbs of London, providing a stable respite from the terrors of the Ukraine war and the oppression in Belarus – a mansion for seclusion. He bought it in 2017 for £1.195 million ($1.6 million).

His eldest son Artsiom moved into the house next door. The house was purchased on the same day as his father’s and the price of the villa was £1.185 million ($1.59 million).

The big Belarusian customs broker, Custom Service, takes the bronze medal in our top list.

They exported more than $8.5 million worth of luxury cars from Belarus to Russia in the ten months of 2023.

Custom Service was established in 2011 and has been managed by Vital Sabaleuski ever since. He owns 54% of the company’s shares.

As well as running his own business, Sabaleuski acts as the deputy chairman of the Association of Customs Representatives of Belarus. The EAEU Customs Code and other documents in the sphere of foreign trade were drafted with the participation of the Association’s experts. The Association’s office is located in the Nemiga City business centre in Minsk. And, remarkably, in the very room that once housed the office of another well-known logistics company, Globalcast, associated with Lukashenka’s right-hand man, Viktar Sheiman.

Sabaleuski is partnered with Aliaksandr Bortnik, who owns 30% of Custom Service. He is no stranger to the logistics and customs sphere. Before entering the private sector, Bortnik worked as a senior inspector at Minsk Regional Customs. Besides Custom Service, Bortnik’s business biography included another asset, Solartech.

In 2019, the company changed owners. Hanna Pushkarova, Viktar Sheiman’s favourite, became the new owner. Hanna Khmialeuskaya, a relative of Sheiman’s first wife Alena, received a further 40% of the shares. A week later, Solartech was renamed Globalcast-Commerce.

Vital Sabaleuski and Aliaksandr Bortnik declined to comment.

Techno-Jet Group came second in our rating.

The company’s website states that it supplies equipment and components for industrial enterprises. Recently, however, a new line of service has been added – the import of premium cars from the USA, Europe and Asia. Techno-Jet Group is owned by Feliks Dziaranau, the son of a former high-ranking Internal Troops serviceman, Ihar Dziaranau, who retired with the rank of colonel and went into business.

Feliks Dziaranau chose another path. On social media, he presents himself as an interior designer and founder of Soffit Interiors studio.

His former partner in the design business, Ihar Chabataronak, is credited with building a major agricultural machinery distributor, Tekhnodvor, from scratch in five years.

He founded the company with his father, a former military prosecutor’s office employee. But now Tekhnodvor is going bankrupt. By the way, the Techno-Jet Group was called the Tekhnodvor Group at the beginning of this year.

According to customs data, the company supplied expensive Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Porsche cars to Russia. Most of them were made in Germany. The total cost of the cars exceeds $15 million. Feliks Dziaranau told us on the phone that he was not aware of such deliveries and advised us to contact his partner. In a conversation with us, Ihar Chabataronok denied that he was running an illegal business. He was the one who threatened to set GUBOP on us. The businessman's knowledge of Belarusian law enforcement is not based on hearsay. He was involved in criminal proceedings for bribing officials to the tune of at least 20 thousand roubles.

In our top 5, the honorary palm branch goes to Premialnaya Transportnaya Kompaniya.

It broke all records, delivering more than $15.6 million worth of luxury cars to Russia in ten months this year.

The company was founded after the outbreak of war – in September 2022. Its permanent director is the Russian Akhmad Abuev. On his Instagram, he literally started a PR company selling VIP cars. While we were investigating, the businessman made his profile private, but we were able to download some photos and videos beforehand On his page, Abuev stated that he was associated with Russia’s Gorodskaya Transportnaya Kompaniya (GTK Auto), which is involved in parallel imports of cars and trucks from Europe, the UAE and China.

We also found a post on Instagram in which Abuev boasts that since the introduction of sanctions against Russia, GTK Auto has delivered and cleared more than 300 cars in Russia. The average cost of one such car is $340,000.

Abuev has also released a clip that shows several luxurious and exclusive cars. We were able to find cars with exactly the same parameters in the customs database. Premialnaya Transportnaya Kompaniya delivered them to Gorodskaya Transportnaya Kompaniya this summer.

Premialnaya Transportnaya Kompaniya partners with the Belarusian Wrestling Federation, as well as the National Olympic Committee led by Viktar Lukashenka and the Presidential Sports Club headed by Dzmitry Lukashenka. Alim Selimov, a two-time world champion in Greco-Roman wrestling and Merited Sports Master in Belarus, currently leads the BWF. Selimov is also known for supporting Lukashenka and participating in pro-government activities. Akhmad Abuev posted a photo with Selimov on his Instagram.

From left to right: Akhmad Abuev, Alim Selimov

We also came across a clip featuring Viktar Lukashenka taking part in a sporting event.

We contacted the Premialnaya Transportnaya Kompaniya using the registered contact number but the person who answered informed us that his number was mistakenly listed in the registry, and he is not associated with the automotive industry. The company has not provided other contact details. Therefore, we reached out to Akhmad Abuev via direct messages on Instagram, but we did not receive a reply.

Our investigation has revealed that, despite the sanctions, high-quality European cars are still reaching Russia through intermediaries in Belarus. Lithuanian customs have discovered multiple occurrences where vehicles imported into the country from other EU member states, after undergoing customs clearance in third countries such as Belarus, were then transported to Russia and registered there. The total value of the resold cars is about 43 million euros. Lithuanian customs did not reveal the individuals involved in the dubious plan, but they assured Buro that they would hand over information on such vehicles to relevant authorities in other countries “for further scrutiny and to reinforce export regulations in order to decrease the likelihood of evading sanctions”.

But while Russian bombs are flying into Ukraine, Kremlin elites can indulge in luxury cars. Much of this is owed to the Belarusians, who see this as a good time to make money from dubious schemes.

We have informed the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, which unites the major car brands, of the current situation and asked for their comments. The response will be published as soon as we receive it.

We are thankful to OCCRP ID and Transparency International UK for their help in preparing this investigation.