Rating of rich people in Belarus. Forbes list in Belarusian

Vladimir Matikevich

Over 7.5 billion rubles (about 3.8 million dollars) entered the treasury of the Republic of Belarus as a result of declaring the total annual income for last year. This is almost a billion more than the previous one! Such data were presented by Deputy Minister of Taxes and Duties, Mr. Alexander Doroshenko, at a press conference at the National Press Center. Almost 160 thousand citizens reported their income to the state, of which more than 70 thousand were individual entrepreneurs.

The declaration of dollar millionaires did not reveal. Only 3,698 applicants received income taxed at the maximum rate of 30%. The average percentage of withdrawal to taxable income, as reported at a press conference by the head of the department of individuals of the Ministry of Taxes, Mrs. Galina Radyukevich, is 13.7%. At the same time, he complained; our earnings are not so great...

However, according to unofficial data from the same ministry, today there are more than one hundred dollar millionaires living in the Republic of Belarus, whose total capital amounts to more than 14 billion dollars, or 3.5 of the Budget of Belarus.

Such amounts were earned on the transit of gas, oil, “correct” customs clearance of goods and the sale of confiscated goods, construction, in the alcohol and tobacco business, the sale of weapons, the food market, the flower market, the sale of timber, fertilizers, land and the “protection protection” of the entire criminal business - “excuse ", hitting competitors, tearing up contracts and 10% of the implementation of these contracts, obtaining licenses or depriving them, carrying out planned and unscheduled inspections and so on and so forth. Among the underground millionaires, the lion's share consists of officials and those who job responsibilities must stop such squandering of people's goods. However, the official salary in this category does not exceed $500 per month. Naturally, from data earned through back-breaking labor Money, no taxes were charged.

So, who are they, the richest people in Belarus?

1. Alexander Lukashenko - President of Belarus - $11.4 billion.

2. Vladimir Peftiev - businessman - $900 million.

3. Ivan Titenkov - former Presidential Administration Manager - $420 million.

4. Viktor Sheiman - Prosecutor General - $397 million.

5. Mikhail Myasnikovich - President of the Academy of Sciences - $290 million.

6. Viktor Lagvinets - businessman - $175 million.

7. Filaret - Patriarchal Exarch of Belarus - 47.3 million dollars.

8. Yuri Chizh - businessman - $46.0 million.

9. Mikhail Borovoy - Minister of Transport and Communications - $26.3 million.

10. Alexey Vaganov - deputy - businessman - $23.6 million.

11. Vladimir Alexandrovich general director. “Itera - Bel” - $21.9 million.

12. Galina Zhuravkova - former Presidential Administration Manager - $21.6 million.

13. Georgy Kashkan - former employee Department managers - $19.4 million.

14. Pyotr Prokopovich - head of the National Bank - $18.8 million.

15. Sergei Sidorsky - Prime Minister - $16.7 million.

16. Tamara Vinnikova - ex-head of the National Bank - $15.8 million.

17. Vladimir Konoplev - Deputy Speaker of Parliament - $14.3 million.

18. Alexander Shpilevsky - head of the State Customs Committee - $12.4 million.

19. Peter Rooster - director. Beltransgaz 10.6 million dollars.

20. Alexander Lyakhov - director. "Belarusneft" 10.2 million dollars.

21. Leonid Kozik - Chairman of Trade Unions - $9.9 million.

22. Sergey Kostyuchenko - Priorbank - $9.3 million.

23. Yuri Matusevich - “ White Rus'" - 8.3 million dollars.

24. Nikolai Domashkevich - governor of the Minsk region. - 8.1 million dollars

25. Vladimir Andreichenko - governor of the Vitebsk region. - 7.9 million dollars

26. Anatoly Tozik - director. State control - 7.5 million dollars.

27. Vladimir Savchenko - governor of the Grodno region. - 7.3 million dollars

28. Sergey Litvin - businessman - $7.3 million.

29. Vasily Dolgolev - former. Goober. Brest region - 7.2 million dollars.

30. Leonid Erin - Chairman of the KGB - 6.9 million dollars.

31. Yuri Sivakov - Minister of Sports - $6.7 million.

32. Roman Vnuchko - former banker and deputy prime minister - $6.7 million.

33. Leonid Getsenok - Khimvolokno - 6.3 million dollars.

34. Konstantin Gisyak - Khimvolokno - 6.3 million dollars.

35. Nikolai Korbut - Minister of Finance - $5.3 million.

36. Valery Langov - “Nitrogen” - 6.2 million dollars.

37. Viktor Kamenkov - pres. higher economics ships - 6.2 million dollars.

38. Valentin Gurinovich - director of MAZ - 6.2 million dollars.

39. Leonid Glukhovsky - prev. Investigation Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - 6.1 million dollars.

40. Leonid Kalugin - President of Atlant CJSC - $6.1 million.

41. Victor Moroz - gene. Director of Belshin - $6.1 million.

42. Vladimir Semashko - Deputy Prime Minister - $6.1 million.

43. Mikhail Pavlov - mayor of Minsk - $6.1 million.

44. Viktor Rakhmanko - former. hands Bel. zhel. roads - 6.0 million dollars.

45. Leonid Kucheryavyi - gene. director of "Crystal" - 6.0 million dollars.

46. ​​Vladimir Grigoriev - Ambassador of Belarus to Russia - $5.9 million.

47. Vladimir Goncharenko - Minister of Communications - $5.6 million.

48. Nikolay Skutov - deputy - businessman - 5.5 million dollars.

49. Pavel Yakubovich - ch. editor of “Sovetskaya Belarus” - $4.7 million.

50. Ivan Bambiza - Deputy Prime Minister - $4.6 million.

51. Vladimir Boyko - former. prev Higher Economics Vessels - 4.6 million dollars.

52. Andrey Klimov - businessman - $4.5 million.

53. Nikolai Korotkevich - deputy. Secretary of the Security Council - $3.8 million.

54. Stepan Sukharenko - trans. deputy Chairman of the KGB - 3.7 million dollars.

55. Egor Rybakov - former. hands national state television and radiocomp. - 3.6 million dollars

56. Sergei Gaidukevich - chairman of the LDPB - $3.4 million. [...]

Lukashenko's oligarchs or how do the richest people in Belarus earn money?

Stepan Sukhovenko

Top 13 Belarusian oligarchy

And who in Belarus today makes up the small “class” of the richest people? All friends and associates of President Lukashenko. After all, as has already been said, only the presidential will and the corresponding decree open the way to real wealth. Among the national oligarchs it is impossible to find representatives of the corps of directors (although the “anti-corruption” machine fights precisely against them) and representatives of the political opposition (although government media regularly tell “horror stories” about foreign multimillion-dollar grant funding for the opposition). Let us allow ourselves to make a rating of real Belarusian oligarchs.

Galina Anisimovna Zhuravkova, ex-head of the Presidential Administration. Now I have just left the KGB pre-trial detention center, where I was housed on charges of large-scale abuses, fraud, and bribes. Zhuravkova came to “big power” in 2001 and in a matter of months managed to redistribute many profitable markets in her favor. Thus, her “guys” took control of the wholesale markets of grain, coal, timber, and fish. Zhuravkova had a network of its own stores, selling, among other things, confiscated goods. She quickly claimed her oil quota. And later it turned out that Galina Anisimovna legally owns 0.9% of the shares of the transit enterprise Beltransgaz. And that was just the beginning. She almost managed to persuade Lukashenko to “nomenklatura privatization” of oil refining enterprises in order to subsequently resell these enterprises to Russians for significantly more high price. But this active person did not at all take into account the needs of other “oligarch favorites” from the president’s entourage. Which is why she got burned, despite the trusting relationship with Lukashenko himself and his women.

Victor Vladimirovich Sheiman, Prosecutor General of Belarus. The president's oldest ally. His confidant. Legal education received in absentia, already being the country's chief prosecutor. But intelligence and erudition have never been Sheiman’s virtues. But the ability to take control of a specific business and turn it into a well-functioning “gray scheme” cannot be taken away from Viktor Vladimirovich. His interests are extremely multifaceted. Through Beltechexport, Sheiman controlled the entire Belarusian (legal and not so legal) arms trade. Has an interest in the profits of the mobile operator MCS. Actively operates in the markets for energy offsets, scrap supplies metallurgical plant, supplies food products to the capital. He is actively developing, through his brother and himself personally, a cross-border network of trade in confiscated goods.

Ivan Ivanovich Titenkov, ex-head of the Presidential Administration. Nowadays he lives in the Russian capital and is extremely dissatisfied with the behavior of his former partner Lukashenko. Why would Titenkov be dissatisfied? Before the era of Lukashenko, Ivan Ivanovich himself was a failed businessman mediocre. And only with the help of Alexander Grigorievich he reached unimaginable heights. It has taken over many consumer markets, the tourism sector, trade in tobacco and alcohol products, and the capital's real estate and office space market. Through his department, there was distribution of space for stores in the capital, as well as quotas for the supply of certain categories of goods. Again, in the end, he went too far and was forced to shamefully flee to Moscow.

Vladimir Nikolaevich Konoplev, Deputy Speaker National Assembly. A modest and quiet rural local police officer, who was not even trusted with a pistol, suddenly gained access to serious resources. It quickly took one of the main places in the market building materials and medicines. And also in the market for the construction of prestigious facilities in Minsk. Taking advantage of the opportunity to travel abroad as part of parliamentary delegations, he established contacts with adventurous European businessmen (especially from Belgium). Sometimes, however, he delved into the pharmaceutical market. But he quickly realized that the current Minister of Health Lyudmila Postoyalko is much closer to the president than Konoplev himself. Therefore, he transferred part of his “pharmaceutical” ambitions to the provincial minister.

Victor Logvinets, owner of the trade and financial holding Konto-group. Confidant of Ivan Titenkov. Logvints' holding was developing dozens of profitable directions: supplies of construction materials, automotive equipment, food products, etc. For a long time provided the president’s considerable personal needs for clothing and food. He escaped from Belarus along with Ivan Titenkov when the latter fell into disgrace.

Vladimir Pavlovich Peftiev, the constant curator of Beltechexport, the main operator of all trade and arms transactions in Belarus, Sheiman’s closest partner. Peftiev made money from selling weapons even when Lukashenko unsuccessfully managed the Gorodets state farm. Alexander Grigorievich, immediately after winning the presidential elections in 1994, wanted to exchange Peftiev for his own man, but quickly realized that Sergei Petrovich’s companions could shoot him for such a thing. After which the “new friends” sat down at the negotiating table and worked out a profit sharing scheme.

Yuri Chizh, owner of the multi-profile holding company Triple. He regularly plays hockey with the president. At the request of the latter, he actively finances the Belarusian national football team and the Dynamo football club. Regularly fights for oil and gas quotas. Works in the food market. He constantly replenishes the “president’s common fund”, as well as his real estate and deposits.

Vladimir Alexandrovich, ex-deputy of the National Assembly, “owner” of the once high-profile company “Itera-Bel”. For a long time it was a kind of monopolist in the “gas speculation” market. Until a conflict broke out with the president of the Russian Itera, Igor Viktorovich Makarov. But Aleksandrovich quickly regained his position, and is now actively attacking not only the gas market, but also the oil and confiscated markets. He is one of the president's closest friends.

Mikhail Vladimirovich Myasnikovich, ex-chief of administration of President Lukashenko. Today he heads the National Academy of Sciences. He always had a specific material interest in banking, trading and transit and raw materials (oil) businesses. For a long time he acted as an intermediary for a number of Russian shadow industrial and financial groups, representing their interests in Belarus. That’s why Lukashenko was never “eaten.” Although he posed a considerable threat to Alexander Grigorievich, since he oversaw the nomenklatura, had significant money and had access to Russia. But Mikhail Vladimirovich is an extremely subtle opportunist, and therefore he managed to come to an agreement with Lukashenko.

Irina Abelskaya, former personal doctor president. Today her status has increased significantly. She is no longer just a personal doctor, but also the closest, let’s say, friend of Alexander Grigorievich. Officially, he is the head of a special clinic for serving senior government officials. In reality, he has much greater influence on Belarusian politics. According to some information, it is through Abelskaya that the purchase of real estate abroad is carried out for the future quiet life of Lukashenko in retirement. Abelskaya is also active in the markets for paid medical services (especially, she is interested in such a profitable industry as cosmetology) and pharmaceuticals.

Alexey Vaganov, current member of the National Assembly, owner of the group trading companies. He actively worked in the Iraqi direction “oil in exchange for...” A typical example of a Belarusian secretive businessman who received the opportunity to work in the domestic market in exchange for a mandatory deduction of a “percentage of transactions.” This percentage goes to the president's special fund. The president himself is indifferent to such people, Vaganov, but demands regular payments for the right to work.

Alexander Shpilevsky, Head of the State Customs Committee. He sharply increased the “profitability” of the State Customs Committee, literally flooded the republic with confiscated goods, and quarreled Belarus with all the countries that transited through Belarusian territory. Personally or through intermediaries, he participates in all “gray” cross-border transactions. He turned the State Customs Committee into a “confiscation machine” that regularly replenishes the personal safe and the president’s safe with income from stolen goods. Fulfills special orders of high-ranking officials to provide their wives and children with confiscated expensive goods (at a cost of at least 75 thousand dollars) motor vehicles. In terms of the number of respectable foreign cars, Minsk will give Moscow a head start. But the owners are all around the dad.

And finally, the most important oligarch of Belarus - Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko. This man periodically makes statements that he lives only on his salary and is the most honest and pure (morally) president in the world. At the same time, he also manages to transfer most of his salary to orphanages. If you want to believe it, believe it. But in fact, he receives interest from all - legal and criminal - transactions. Resale of Russian gas within Belarus, re-export of products from oil refineries, sales of food products, tobacco products without paying taxes, trade in confiscated goods, any cargo transit, arms deals around the world, sales of stakes in state-owned enterprises - only Lukashenko can give permission for all this. He doesn’t hide the fact that he built a system in which decisions are made by one person. This means that in order to bring a carload of alcohol to Belarus and sell it without paying taxes, you need the signature of the president. And you have to pay for the signature. This is the law of nature. Why should we doubt this and why should we believe in the crystal honesty of a man named Lukashenko? As a rule, Lukashenko prefers to keep his money in cash in a home safe. Some of the money is in the safes of foreign banks. Something else is hidden in Cuba, where his children, “friend” Abelskaya and “comrade-in-arms” Sheiman periodically fly for private visits. There is no doubt, only one thing - it is Lukashenko who owns the largest Belarusian fortune.

It is not difficult to answer the question in the title. In Belarus, you can make good money only by being close to President Lukashenko. If you play hockey with him or ride together alpine skiing, then after some time you will definitely receive your piece of “state property” into “perpetual possession.” Earn money yourself, regularly pay your dues to the boss, and most importantly, keep quiet...

Belarus has its own oligarchs. Naturally, the government press does not write about them. They are not included in the Forbes "billionaire" rankings. They are not allowed to make statements and buy English football clubs.

But they are very influential and have very decent fortunes. Influential Belarusians have a lot of free money. True, unlike their Russian colleagues, who invest all their available funds in production assets, buy raw materials deposits, and build financial and production holdings, Belarusian oligarchs keep all their fortunes in “cache” or in other people’s “sleeping” accounts. This is "dead" money. Only entertainment, underground holidays abroad and haute couture clothes for wives/daughters. Ambition and intelligence are clearly lacking.

In Belarus, unlike Russia, real “oligarchic capitalism” has been built. A small group of people has, on the one hand, full political and economic power, and on the other, it controls all financial flows and production and transit capacities of the republic. The redistribution of influence and resources within Belarus occurred quickly and fell within just one “five-year plan”. Having proposed the concept of “strong presidential power,” Lukashenko immediately got the opportunity, through direct presidential decrees, to provide his “partners” with tidbits of state property, transit highways, consumer markets, and construction projects. Behind the scenes, of course. And the whole point is in the development strategy of the national oligarchy. For example, in Russia, local oligarchs not only actively built their “raw materials empires”, but also tried to influence public opinion, abundantly and aggressively buying electronic and print media. In Belarus, all media eventually ended up in the same hands - the government took strict control of public opinion. To build “oligarchic communities,” monopolization of the media is vital, and therefore Lukashenko’s fight against independent newspapers was part of a forward-looking strategy. After all, what happened in Russia? there in large quantities the so-called “information wars” began, when the newspapers of one oligarch depicted in great detail the secret affairs and luxurious lifestyle of oligarch No. 2. These wars greatly electrified public opinion, which also knew by heart the names of 30-50 oligarchs allegedly responsible for the impoverishment of the bulk of the Russian population. In Belarus, the “new oligarchs” did not say a word about each other publicly. As a rule, they transferred the showdown to Lukashenko’s office or home residence. And only in these two sacred places was there a real calculation of who earned and how much, and it also became clear how much the president himself was deceived. [...]

Classic Belarusian “spiders”

In Belarus, the oligarchy developed along a more traditional path. In this country, there was also a redistribution of property and a behind-the-scenes distribution of attractive production assets among “our own people.” But all this was done not just secretly, but absolutely silently. In complete darkness and with the deathly silence of the media. The Belarusian oligarchs did not need to corrupt the state apparatus - they were the basis, the foundation of this apparatus. Oligarchs in Belarus are officials. Could this not be considered the pinnacle of the development of the national oligarchy? One hand signs the permit, the other counts the profits. Local oligarchs, we must give them their due, quickly developed four mandatory “rules of behavior” that guarantee complete security for the “court business.” Failure to comply with these rules leads to expulsion from the “untouchable caste.” Something similar has already happened to a friend and the first “president’s wallet” Ivan Titenkov. And now the procedure for “expelling the traitor” has been launched in relation to the second “president’s wallet” Galina Zhuravka. Well, sometimes the untouchables get too carried away. And their public purge adds points in Lukashenko’s never-ending fight against corruption (usually self-inflicted).

So, the Belarusian oligarchs have developed the following security measures.

The first rule of the oligarchy: the boss (Lukashenko) is always right. You can't be offended by him. And he should regularly receive his share from any, even the most insignificant, transaction.

Rule two: you need to live in the shadows. No public revelations or verbal altercations. No leaking of incriminating evidence to newspapers. Although this happens sometimes. But the bloodiest fights between oligarchs take place on the sidelines. Analytical notes and denunciations of each other, followed by a challenge to the president’s dark cherry carpet - everyday real life new elite. Zhuravkova too brazenly crushed other people’s “property” - the republican markets of tobacco, alcohol, sugar, fish, coal - and therefore was mercilessly eaten up by other oligarchs.

Third rule: society should naively believe that all large production and transit facilities in the country remain in state (people's) ownership. For this it was necessary to recreate a gigantic propaganda apparatus. Do you no longer believe that the Belarusian Metallurgical Plant belongs to the people? Then we come to you with our agitators, political informants, ideologists, television commentators and a personal message from the president on this issue.

Rule four: there should be no alternative political or financial-production groups in the country. Belarusian oligarchs are especially afraid of the arrival of their Russian oligarch colleagues in Belarus. After all, the Russians are much more professional and aggressive, and therefore will probably push the Belarusian “little brothers” into the margins in a matter of months. Here she is the real reason Lukashenko’s hysterical conflict with the Russian concerns Baltika, LUKoil, Gazprom and others. Dwarf oligarchs are afraid of oligarchs with Russian passports.

And one more thing about the difference between the two types of oligarchy. Russian oligarchs They invest their money in production, increase their turnover, build a strategic business, and think about increasing the capitalization of their business. They started out as criminals, but are trying to become respectable and legalized on world business markets. Belarusian oligarchs keep money in home safes and absolutely do not want to let it into real job. The typical behavior of “spiders” is to drink other people’s juices, to extract the last profits from rapidly becoming obsolete Belarusian industries. While they are still producing something that can be sold. Our oligarchs make money from special presidential decrees, but this is not a business. This is classic corruption. And this money is not for modernizing production, but for meeting personal needs - trips to Slovenian ski resorts, acquisition of property in Spain, ownership of a personal “night club” in Minsk. Belarusian oligarchs are completely mediocre, and therefore are only able to receive money through criminal schemes. Unlike Russians, they do not want to legalize their income and do not want to be recognized. [...]

But all of the above people have something to lose. Only in this system, when everything is done in the shadows, opaquely and on the personal orders of the president, can they make fabulous profits. And they are not afraid that public opinion will find out about anything. Their habitat is a muddy pond. That's why they hold on to power so stubbornly. After all, the arrival of a new president or the strengthening of the parliament’s position will inevitably lead to an investigation into their financial crimes.

Two good news for those who like to look at the rich and popular. Recently ej.by published list of the 200 most successful and influential businessmen in Belarus. And “Nasha Niva” yesterday amounted to list of the 10 most popular Belarusian accounts on Instagram. So you look at the 10 most popular and most successful Belarusians.

10 most successful Belarusian businessmen

The Internet portal “Daily” has published a list of the 200 most successful and influential businessmen in Belarus. Success is the actual share of a particular person in the value of his business. Influence is an assessment of the level of communication of a business owner with government regulators, as well as his role (influence) in the industry and the economy as a whole.

10 most popular Belarusian Instagram accounts

Dasha Mart (1.1 million subscribers)

Dasha Mart - photographer and wife of a hockey player from the Minsk club "Yunost" Alexandra Boroduli. In addition, she has the most popular Instagram account in Belarus. On her page, Dasha often posts erotic photos, which usually receive several thousand likes.

Oksana Neveselaya (664 thousand subscribers)

Oksana became popular on Instagram by accident. If you remember, she was mistaken for a sexy teacher from Minsk in major foreign media like the Daily Mail. The news turned out to be fake - Oksana only recently graduated from school, but she received thousands of loyal fans.

Katerina Koba (441 thousand subscribers)

Katerina is a Belarusian fashion model and TV presenter of the STV channel. Abroad, Katya is called the Belarusian Barbie. Usually the girl posts pictures from work and travel.

Yulia Godunova (439 thousand subscribers)

Julia is the girlfriend of Dima Ermuzevich, who was described above. She also has her own YouTube channel, where she posts videos about her life and purchases.

Max Korzh (348 thousand subscribers)

Max is a famous Belarusian performer, whose songs and videos are last years very popular.

Alesya Astashevich (271 thousand subscribers)

Alesya is a model, works in Belarus and Russia and is on the list of “Barbie Models”. The girl became famous thanks to her photograph with the President on the cover of a school primer.

200 successful and influential businessmen of Belarus - this is a project Internet portal“Daily”, which the publication has been preparing and publishing since 2007.

The project, first of all, pursues an educational goal. On the one hand, it promotes personal recognition and increases the loyalty of the population to private business in general, on the other hand, it serves as a source of information for potential partners and investors who are going to implement projects in Belarus.

Getting into and being included in the top 200 successful and influential businessmen of Belarus is determined by two criteria:

1. Success is the actual share of a particular person in the value of his business. Ownership and share are identified based on data from the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus (Unified Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs), registration authorities of other countries where the entrepreneur also conducts business, as well as on the basis of other open sources and insider information. Business cost if available financial indicators is identified by traditional methods for assessing value (cost, income, comparable sales). Depending on the volume of financial information and its sources, it is chosen which approach is appropriate in assessing a specific business and, accordingly, the current capital of the person involved in the top 200 successful and influential businessmen of Belarus.

2. Influence is an additional criterion that we introduced due to the specific conditions of doing business in Belarus and the impossibility of this moment make financial figures public.

It is based on the concept of business sustainability in the economic conditions that have developed over 25 years in the Belarusian economy. First of all, this is an assessment of the level of communication of a particular business owner with government regulators, as well as his role (influence) in the industry and the economy as a whole. A group of experts (at least 10 people), directly related to one of the markets whose participants are represented in the top 200 (IT, finance, woodworking, mechanical engineering, food industry, etc.), uses a point system to determine the degree of influence of one or the other another person within a given period of time.

The Top 200 successful and influential businessmen of Belarus are used as a source of information on private business in Belarus by Belarusian companies and government agencies, as well as foreign investors, the European Commission, the EAEU and departments of many countries around the world.

The project was prepared with the support of a permanent pool of partners led by MTBank, the largest private Belarusian bank.

“MTBank has been working with Belarusian business for a long time, and now we have a separate direction - corporate business. We once started working with small companies, which then grew and became market leaders. Now our partners include Milavitsa, Atlant-M, Karavan Group of Companies, online hypermarket 21vek.by, Smarton, and others. We closely interact with the heads of leading Belarusian companies and see how individual businessmen are key figures not only for their companies, but also for all Belarusian entrepreneurship. And the companies they manage are the foundation on which our country's economy rests. In our opinion, projects such as Top 200 help improve the investment background for business and find new partners.", - notes Alexander Titov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of MTBank CJSC.

In Belarus there are often cases when successful businessmen from the chairs of directors of companies and enterprises find themselves in a prison cell.

Nasha Niva has collected the most high-profile cases of recent years:

Evgeny Shigalov

The owner of the Zhdanovichi market, Evgeny Shigalov, was detained in April 2008. He was charged under criminal article 424, part 3, “Abuse of power or official authority.”

Shigalov had health problems at that time, so the family actively lobbied for the businessman’s release with a request to release him to carry out an operation in London. As a result, Shigalov was released on bail in the amount of $4.5 million. Shigalov later paid another $40 million in damages to the state. In October 2009, Lukashenko released Shigalov from criminal liability. Two years ago, Evgeny Shigalov passed away at the age of 61.

Victor Shevtsov

This “oligarch” was taken into custody in October 2011. Shevtsov implemented projects related to Venezuela. He owned the Belzarubezhstroy company, as well as Trustbank. The company was engaged in construction projects in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Korea. He personally knew Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Hugo Chavez.

Lukashenko reacted to the initiation of the case as follows: “If he doesn’t pay the money, he’ll go to jail.” Moreover, the head of state said that Shevtsov must pay two or three times the amount. Shevtsov was accused of embezzling $10 million. In December 2012, the businessman was amnestied.

Yuri Dankov

The owner of the Dankov Club entertainment establishment was arrested right at his workplace in September 2012. The Moskovsky District Court of Minsk sentenced him to 8 years in prison, which he is still serving. A number of charges were brought against Dankov, from tax evasion to involvement in prostitution.

Dankov tried to run for president of Belarus in 2001, but did not collect the required 100 thousand signatures.

Vitaly Kostogorov

Member of the Council of the Republic, businessman Kostogorov had Russian citizenship, and also owned luxury real estate in Moscow. His apartment in the Russian capital was valued at $1.5 million.

Kostogorov headed Politex CJSC in Mogilev, which was engaged in the production of “environmentally friendly modern nonwovens for textile, light, furniture, automotive industries."

In the summer of 2014, Vitaly Kostogorov was detained by Belarusian special services. He was accused of tax evasion. The businessman was released on December 30, 2014, after he paid 340 thousand euros. After that they stopped talking about the criminal case.

Anna Shareiko

Shareiko, like Vitaly Kostogorov, was a member of the upper house of parliament. She headed the Vitebsk Broiler Poultry Farm.

She was stripped of her parliamentary immunity. There is currently a trial going on in Supreme Court. Anna Shareiko and the feed supplier for her enterprise, Valdemaras Norkusu, are being tried at the same time. On March 15, it turned out that the defendants had filed an application with the registry office. Shareiko strongly denies allegations of corruption.

Vladimir Yaprintsev

The right hand of Yuri Chizh, the head of the judo and sambo federation, Vladimir Yaprintsev was considered one of the richest people in the country. He ended up behind bars in August 2015. His son Kazbek was arrested along with him. KGB head Valery Vakulchik said that Yaprintsev is accused of fraud. By unofficial version, Yaprintsev tried to withdraw capital outside of Belarus. He continues to be in jail under investigation.

Andrey Pavlovsky

One of the most successful businessmen in the Grodno region, owner of the Biokom company, Andrei Pavlovsky, is accused of evading taxes in the amount of about $8 million. Pavlovsky spent less than a month in the pre-trial detention center and is currently under house arrest.

Yuri Chizh

This is not the first time that the most famous businessman in Belarus has found himself in a pre-trial detention center. Chizh was already detained in May 2007 in connection with the case general director"Belneftekhim" Borovsky. However, everyone learned about that incident after the fact.

Now everyone knew about Chizh’s arrest on the same day. Chizh built a powerful business empire, Triple, which was involved in petroleum products and construction. They say that in Lately The businessman was experiencing financial difficulties. Chizh was closely acquainted with Alexander Lukashenko. Since March 11, he has been kept in a KGB pre-trial detention center.

Evgeniy Baskin

Baskin is among the top 10 richest people in Belarus. In the Mogilev region there was no one at all who could compare with Baskin. He built his business on chicken and feed. Everyone in the country knows his brands “Brothers Grill” and “Petrukha”. Baskin was detained on March 14. So far, the security forces have not provided information about what exactly Evgeniy Baskin is accused of.