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Politico: Cypriot company accused of profiting from EU sanctions

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An investigation by Belarusian journalists has identified a Cypriot company at the center of a subcontracting profit ring

Politico: Κυπριακor εταιρεΙακατ ηγοεταιεελαπτι ; κυρσις Ε. /></p> <p>Belarusian journalists have found that a Cypriot company linked to a former top adviser to Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is profiting through inflated contracts related to new export routes for the fertilizer ingredient potash, which were created as a result of EU sanctions.</p> <p> < p>In March 2022, the European Commission banned the import and transit of Belarusian potash into the bloc following Lukashenko's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The EU ban has forced Belarus' state-owned potash producer Belaruskali to shift its exports, worth about €2 billion a year, from the Lithuanian port of Klaipėda to the Russian port of St. Petersburg.</p> <p>A survey published on Thursday the Belarusian Research Center (BIC) reported that the new arrangements for shifting potash from Russia included sharply inflated price contracts between Belaruskali and a Cyprus-based holding company.</p> <p>In 2023, Belaruskali commissioned a Cypriot company called Dimicandum Invest Holding to transfer the cargo to ships at the Russian port, even though terminal operators could do the job much cheaper, according to BIC – a network of exiled Belarusian investigative journalists.</p> <p>Documents obtained by BIC show that in 2023 Belaruskali agreed to pay the Cypriot company $68 million for 3.4 million tonnes of potash – $20 per tonne transported. The Cypriot company then paid the port to do the work. Figures provided to BIC show that the port's purchase price for these services is $11 per ton.</p> <p>“Our investigation has shown that this scheme may have been organized to divert funds from the domestic monopoly potash fertilizer producer for the benefit of Alexander Lukashenko's proxies,” BIC writes.</p> <p>Journalists found that the man listed as a signatory on behalf of Dimicandum Invest Holding – the financial director “A.G. Svirydau” – was Andrei Svirydau, deputy head of the Department of Presidential Affairs of Belarus from 2019 to 2021. Svirydau admitted to BIC reporters by phone that he is the financial director of the company, but denied that he signed contracts with Belaruskali.</p> <p>The EU has come under fire in the past for imposing sanctions on Belarusian potash. UN Secretary-General António Guterres traveled to Brussels last year to plead for an exemption from the transit of Russian and Belarusian fertilizers, arguing that the bans are indirectly raising food prices and hunger across Africa.</p> <p>Most EU countries, led by Portugal, were willing to grant the special exemption, especially after complaints from agricultural powerhouses such as Brazil that they were struggling to get enough fertiliser. However, a backlash from the Baltic states eventually stopped the idea, which was soon buried amid yet another round of sanctions against Minsk.</p> <p>The research highlights “that a significant part of the higher potash supply costs may be due on systems with evidence of corruption and not on the consequences of sanctions,” BIC writes. After hitting a record high in 2022, global potash prices have also fallen 75% since May this year.</p> <p>According to three experts interviewed by BIC, even if the potash cargoes did not enter the block, Cyprus-based Dimicandum Invest Holding is still in breach of EU sanctions.</p> <p>Gunnar Ekeløve-Slydal, deputy secretary general of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, told BIC that “EU sanctions prohibit EU-registered companies from providing services or products to Belaruskali, and transshipment of potash in St. Petersburg would be a direct violation”.</p> <p>Cypriot prosecutors told BIC that their findings have been referred to the relevant agency.</p> <p>The European Commission told POLITICO: “The Commission will review this case and contact the Cypriot authorities if and if necessary.”</p> <p>Belaruskali did not respond to POLITICO's request for comment. POLITICO attempted to contact Andrei Svirydau, Dimicandum Invest Holding and its director, but was unable to reach them.</p> <p><em>with information from Politico</em></p> <p><noindex></p> <div class=Source: www.kathimerini.com.cy

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