Lukashenko distributes prime Belarusian real estate to his Serbian allies - OCCRP

Minsk

Originally the winner of an architectural competition in Minsk in 2008, the plan for the futuristic project was a 300-meter-high skyscraper, glass towers twisted like corks, and a gondola canal to ride between the residential blocks. But today, the project is a high-rise residential building that looks like a brick fortress hiding in the Belarusian capital.

The journalists' analysis of the land registry data showed that Zomex Investment, Dana Astra and Belinte Robe (renamed Emirates Blue Sky) have at least 11 construction projects around Minsk. These three companies are the largest developers in the city and have been granted more than 400 hectares of land worth about $1''billion.

Hidden corporate maneuvering

In addition, detailed investigations by journalists revealed that the owner of these companies engaged in covert corporate maneuvering that allowed him to continue profiting from deals with Lukashenko's government while avoiding EU sanctions.

Till recently, all three companies were owned by Dana Holdings, registered in Cyprus and formerly owned by Nebojša Karic, a member of a wealthy and influential family from Serbia. In December 2020, the European Union blacklisted Dana Holdings for benefiting from Lukashenko's regime.

The Karic family anticipated the EU's moves: days before the sanctions were announced, Dana Holdings was replaced by a company from the United Arab Emirates''under the name Enterprise Developments Holding Limited. The director and owner of Enterprise Developments is Mostafa el Tobghi, according to the company's ownership documents. In 2013, an advertisement for Dana Holdings on the popular Belarusian news website TUT.by featured the name of Mostafa Al Tobghi as the executive director of Dana Holdings.

After replacing the owner of the companies, Karic was able to circumvent EU sanctions and continue to benefit from his ties to Lukashenko.

The growth of the construction industry in Belarus.

In the past decade, Belarus, encouraged by international institutions such as the World Bank, has sought to move away from the state-controlled economy established during the Soviet Union. However, instead of a market economy, a system of crony capitalism has emerged, from''which benefits well-connected private firms. Top officials or their proxies gain privileged access to entire sectors of the economy and withdraw capital from the country through offshore companies.

Construction has become one of the most profitable businesses in Belarus. In 2011, more than half of housing projects in Minsk were still controlled by state corporations.