Truck Dealers

Belarusian car suppliers are in uproar. Some cars from Europe are no longer allowed into Belarus by Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. The purpose of the ban was to prevent the resale of luxury cars to Russia. We first talked about shady schemes at the end of last year.

This investigation will cover trucks, a new category of European cars that generate revenue for Belarusian intermediaries. We will also reveal a network of companies in Europe, Belarus, and Russia that transport passenger cars in violation of sanctions. But this time, let's start with heavy vehicles.

WUTHERING FREIGHTS

Belarusian businessman and award-winning wrestler Ihar Dziatko is celebrating his success. His new company ended the year with impressive financial performance. Turnover was over $14 million and net income was $14 thousand. Dziatko has been involved in the car trade for about ten years, but his business only made a noticeable hit last year.

Dziatko's Russian-based company, Autoby, imports Western brands of cars and trucks sanctioned by the European Union. The dealer actively promotes current stock on social media. New arrivals include Mercedes-Benz Actros L and Volvo FH 500 tractors. The cars came from Europe. Autoby is not the only player in this market.

A Volvo tractor truck. Source: volvogroup.com

The customs data we have shows that dozens of Belarusian companies are transporting sanctioned European trucks to Russia. Popular car brands include Volvo, Scania, Mercedes-Benz, DAF, MAN, and Renault. The trucks come from Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Poland.

Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union prohibited the sale of trucks to Russia and Belarus. However, these vehicles are entering these countries by circumventing the sanctions.

Thanks to these intricate schemes, more than 600 tractors worth $60 million were delivered from Belarus to Russia in 2023. Belshintorgservis, Autoby Leasing and NMP Logistic became the leaders in this trade. Together, they captured almost 60% of the grey car market, significantly enhancing their financial position.

YOUNG BUT DARING

The Belarusian company NMP Logistic ranks third in our rating. It was established just a couple of months after the introduction of European sanctions. During the year, its sales increased tenfold to $7 million and net profit increased fivefold to $47 thousand.

The director and sole owner of NMP Logistic is Hleb Charnyshou, a native of Kobryn.

Last year, his company supplied Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, DAF and MAN trucks to Russia. Total supplies exceed $3 million.

Hleb Charnyshou. Source: cargonomica.com

The company Pro Avto is the only buyer of trucks in Russia. Last year the company reported record sales of $10 million and ended the year with a net profit of $300,000 for the first time in many years. Pro Avto is part of PP-Kholding, which is linked to the major oil company Tatneft.

PP-Kholding is co-founded and directed by businessman Alexander Proskurin.

He claimed not to have met the management of NMP Logistic. According to him, the Belarusian company has nothing to do with Pro Avto. But we found out that this is not the case.

During the registration of NMP Logistic, Hleb Charnyshou, the director and owner, provided a contact email address with the domain name pro.auto. This is the website of the Pro Avto company, where Charnyshou used to be listed as the head of the legal department. Customs data shows that NMP Logistic, a Belarusian company, supplied sanctioned equipment solely to PP-Kholding. Charnyshou is associated with both companies.

EXPORT AGENCY 

Autoby Leasing is the second-largest supplier of European tractors to Russia. The company owns autoby.by, a website that aggregates car sales from private sellers and showrooms across Belarus. Last year, Autoby Leasing's revenue increased by six times to $15 million, and net profit increased by almost 22 (!) times to $1 million.

Siarhei Lytko, a native of Crimea holding a Belarusian passport, is the owner of Autoby Leasing.

Back in 2012, he founded the Exact Deliveries trading company in Smolensk. Over time, it has grown to a holding company with branches in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The group of companies specializes in export and import transactions.

Siarhei Lytko. Source: nds.kg

Last year, Autoby Leasing delivered Volvo, DAF, MAN, Scania and Renault tractors to Russia. Total supplies exceed $5.8 million.

The only buyer of trucks from Autoby Leasing is a Belarusian businessman and former athlete Ihar Dziatko and his company Autoby. We mentioned them above. Autoby is an importer of Western car and truck brands that have been subject to EU sanctions. Dziatko acted as the director of the Belarusian company Autoby Leasing from April 2022 to July 2023. In other words, as in the case of NMP Logistic, related companies were used to sell equipment from Belarus to Russia.

Ihar Dziatko hung up the phone as soon as he heard our questions about the supply of European cars to the Russian market.

CHANGING TYRES

The largest supplier of European trucks to Russia is the Belarusian company Belshintorgservis. For almost 30 years it has been selling tyres, discs, batteries, car parts, cars and special-purpose vehicles. Its customer base includes more than 10 thousand companies. Following the 2020 protests in Belarus, Belshintorgservis supplied tyres to the Investigative Committee, the State Committee for Forensic Investigations, the police, the military academy, military units and enterprises under the Lukashenka Facility and Property Management Office.

Last year, the company's revenue increased fivefold and reached almost $46 million. The net profit increased 24 (!) times to $390 thousand.

Belshintorgservis is a distributor of Volvo, Scania, Mercedes-Benz, DAF, MAN and Renault tractors to Russia. Last year, the value of its shipments exceeded $26 million. Among the buyers are Russian companies that sell cars.

Belarusian businessman Uladzimir Serzhanovich is the beneficiary of Belshintorgservis.

He told Buro that he supported the sanctions imposed over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. According to him, it is necessary to fight companies that supply dual-use goods to Russia that can be used in war. At the same time, the businessman believes that there is nothing wrong with the supply of consumer goods.

Uladzimir Serzhanovich. Source: probusiness.io

He confirmed that Belshintorgservis sells European trucks to Russia, but does not consider such deliveries to be a way of circumventing sanctions.

We checked the VIN codes of trucks that Belshintorgservis delivered from Belarus to Russia. It turned out that some tractors had passed through Lithuania. From there, they allegedly went to Kazakhstan but eventually ended up in Russia. A classic scheme for circumventing sanctions.

AN HONEST CONFESSION

In addition to trucks, all the top three companies had sales of passenger cars to Russia. Earlier, we had a look at who was behind such deliveries. Now we have been able to find out the details of how a business of this kind is organised. The supply chain involves companies from four countries – Germany, Lithuania, Belarus and Russia.

We found confirmation of this in the documents of a Russian court. One of the entities we investigated went there to complain about how customs authorities acted. The company in question is Autoby, owned by Belarusian Ihar Dziatko. Last year, Autoby purchased Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ferrari and other passenger cars from the Belarusian company Autoby Leasing. Total supplies exceed $3.5 million.

One of these shipments came to the attention of Customs, which decided to investigate. Autoby bought a Toyota car from Autoby Leasing. The car was manufactured in the Japanese company's European plant. Customs officials thought the price of 5 million Russian roubles (almost 65,000 euros) was underestimated and corrected it. The Autoby company challenged the decision of the customs and won the case.

Court documents revealed how the car ended up in Belarus. Autoby Leasing bought it from the Lithuanian company Skani Siunta. The Lithuanian company, in turn, brought the car from Germany. Skani Siunta bought it from the German company AZN Auto Zentrum Nord GmbH & Co. KG. This is a dealership in the city of Chemnitz that actively sells cars.

Autoby explained to the court why the car's arrival in Russia involved such a long chain of companies.

In other words, the company admitted to using intermediaries in Lithuania and Belarus to evade sanctions.

On the way from Germany to Russia the price of Toyota increased by 3600 euros. Autoby Leasing charged 63 euros for intermediary services. The German company AZN Auto Zentrum Nord GmbH & Co. KG has stated that it does not sell cars to Russia. The director of Skani Siunta did not respond to our request.

COMMOTION AT THE BORDER

Following the publication of our investigation into luxury cars, European customs officials have tightened border controls. An additional set of documents may be required from the shipper and the consignee. For example, the manufacturer's declaration or route logic justification. This means that the parties to the transaction have to confirm that the sub-sanctioned vehicle will not remain in Russia.

At the end of March, Lithuanian customs authorities intercepted a BMW X1 car driven by a Belarusian citizen. The check revealed that he was transporting an EU-registered car to third countries for commercial purposes. The violator faces a fine and confiscation of the car.

The BMW car seized at the border. Source: lrmuitine.lt

As European cars are not banned from entering Belarus, ordinary citizens should not suffer from stricter border controls. The inspections are primarily aimed at intermediaries who resell European vehicles to Russia.

Earlier this year, the customs authorities of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia agreed to tighten cargo controls at the border with Belarus and Russia to prevent the supply of goods bypassing sanctions. Experts believe that harmonising the restrictions imposed on Belarus and Russia is effective.

According to calculations by the Norwegian consulting organisation Corisk, there are more than 3,000 goods that cannot be exported to Russia but can be sold unrestricted to Belarus. Among such goods are SUVs that can be used in the war against Ukraine.

Belarus is therefore a gateway for European goods to Russia. Corisk says our country accounts for about a third of shadow exports to Russia, worth over 10 billion euros in 2022-2023.