Cypriot firm accused of profiting from EU potash sanctions against Belarus – POLITICO

In 2023, Belaruskali hired a Cypriot subcontractor called Dimicandum Invest Holding to transfer cargo from rail wagons to ships at the Russian port, even though the terminal operators could do the job far cheaper, according to BIC — a network of Belarusian investigative journalists in exile.

Documents acquired by BIC show that in 2023 Belaruskali agreed to pay the Cypriot firm $68 million for 3.4 million tons of potash — $20 per ton moved. The Cypriot firm then paid the port to do the job. Figures provided to BIC show the port’s market rate for these services is $11 per ton.

“Our investigation has shown that this scheme may have been organized to divert funds from the domestic monopoly producer of potash fertilizer to the benefit of Aleksandr Lukashenko’s proxies,” the BIC writes.

The journalists found that the man listed as signing on behalf of Dimicandum Invest Holding — financial director “AG Svirydau” — was Andrei Svirydau, deputy head of the Belarusian Department of Presidential Affairs from 2019 to 2021. Svirydau admitted to being the company’s financial director to BIC reporters over the phone, but denied signing any contracts with Belaruskali.

The EU has previously come under fire for sanctioning Belarusian potash. UN Secretary-General António Guterres traveled to Brussels last year to plead for a transit exemption for Russian and Belarusian fertilizers, arguing the bans were indirectly increasing food prices and hunger across Africa.

Most EU countries, led by Portugal, were willing to grant the special dispensation, particularly after complaints from agricultural powerhouses like Brazil that they were struggling to get enough fertilizer. Yet fierce opposition from the Baltic states ultimately killed the idea, which was soon buried amid another round of sanctions against Minsk.