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Spotlight

BELARUS SYRIA

Minsk makes murky play to become first EU migrant smuggler

From Damascus, Minsk has constructed a web of a dozen travel agencies which recruit migrants who are eventually taken to EU borders. This is taking place against a background of rejuvenated diplomatic activity in the Middle East by Lukashenko who is keen to renew ties with his longstanding Syrian ally. [...] (800 words)

Issue dated 15/11/2021 Reading time 4 minutes

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Government Intelligence

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Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan
Abdulrahman Suleiman Al-Ahmad
Alexander Lukashenko
Bashar al-Assad
Bayling Tour
Belavia
Cham Wings Airlines
Dream Job
Dream Travel
European Union
Hafez Makhlouf
Iraqi Airways
Khaled Erikat
Mikhail Bogdanov
Mohamed Makhlouf
Mohammed al-Umrani
New Fleet
Nikolay Borisevich
Oscar Tour
Rami Makhlouf
Rifaat al-Assad
State of the Union
Vizak

Parallel private diplomacy efforts between Kyiv and Minsk secretly thriving

Kyiv has been backing Minsk in Brussels despite Belarus's involvement with Russia. Thanks largely to the actions of well-connected middlemen in the business community, the war has not frayed the diplomatic ties between the two Eastern European capitals.

BELARUS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNITED STATES 03/10/2022

US lobbyists help Belarusian ex-arms czar keep sanctions at bay

The former owner of arms group BelTech, Vladimir Peftiev, who claims to now be enjoying his retirement, still has a team of top-notch lobbyists in the US working to downplay his politically sensitive activities and protect him from sanctions.

Belarusian and Russian national flags. © Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

Spotlight

BELARUS 04/04/2022

Minsk securocrats team up with dissidents to paint a picture of occupation

In the darker recesses of government and among politically active exiles, a new initiative is taking shape: that Belarus should be viewed as Russian-occupied territory.

BELARUS RUSSIA UKRAINE 01/03/2022

Belarus intelligence informed Moscow of jammed interception channels over Ukraine

The Belarusian interception cells brought into the conflict in Ukraine by their ally, Russia, warned Moscow that they were suddenly unable to intercept signals in Ukraine, 10 days before the start of Russia's offensive.

BELARUS RUSSIA 17/01/2022

Under pressure from Moscow, Lukashenko closes ranks around his new constitutional project

The Belarusan president is putting the finishing touches to the foundations of his new political and security policy by assuring himself of the support of popular veterans and his loyal base. Moscow, meanwhile, has sent former spymaster Boris Gryzlov to keep an eye on goings-on in Minsk.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, at Sochi on the 15th of February 2019.

SYRIA 14/12/2021

Brussels sanctions Cham Wings Airlines

Syria's Cham Wings, which has operated numerous flights between Damascus and Minsk in recent months, has been sanctioned by the European Union because of its role in the migrant crisis. Yet boss Issam Shammout is determinedly pursuing the company's international expansion from the United Arab Emirates.

Spotlight

RUSSIA 10/12/2021

EU blocks Sergey Shilov-led Skol Airline's regional expansion plans

In a climate which is unfavourable to air transport operators in Minsk, Skol Airline, a leading Russian helicopter operator headed by businessman Serguey Shilov, has had its regional expansion plans blocked by a ban on flying over EU territory.

BELARUS LITHUANIA UNITED STATES 08/12/2021

NATO outpost Vilnius chagrined over loss of its Belarusan potash business

Lithuania has been particularly affected by the recent friction between the Baltic states and Belarus. Apart from security considerations along its 500km border with Belarus, which is kept under tight surveillance by its security services, Lithuania has had to do without the economic benefits it derived from its key role in the exportation of Belarusan potash.

POLAND UNITED STATES 30/11/2021

Poland revives Washington lobbying efforts to protect its defence orders

Concerned about the security of NATO's eastern border, Poland's defence ministry has hired two firms to promote its interests and military industry partnerships in Washington.

Polish defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak attends a meeting on US troop deployment in Poland, in Krakow on 4 August 2020.

UZBEKISTAN 29/11/2021

Mirziyoyev continues overhaul of security service after ousting spymaster Rustam Inoyatov

To mark his second term, the Uzbek president has embarked on a major reshuffle of his political-security apparatus in a move that leaves his once highly influential advisor and senior Samarkand clan member, Rustam Inoyatov, out in the cold.

SYRIA UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 22/11/2021

Syrian firms use Expo 2020 Dubai to get back into the international business scene

The colours of Bashar Al Assad's Syria topped the bill at Expo 2020 Dubai on 14 November but Syrian companies like Cham Wings Airlines and Cham Holding were there above all for business reasons. They wanted to show that they are confident of their ability to get back into the regional business scene despite the American and European sanctions still weighing on them.

Among the Syrian artworks presented at the Syria Pavilion of the Dubai Expo is a portrait of First Lady Asma Al Assad, 14 November 2021.

BELARUS 27/10/2021

Lukashenko holds off on inevitable KGB reform

Faced with a resurgent internal crisis, the regime in Minsk has turned on its intelligence service, the KGB, the supposed deficiences of which have been singled out for criticism by Alexander Lukashenko. This has given rise to yet another reshuffle among senior KGB personnel but the inevitable radical reform the service needs has again been put off for another day.

FRANCE SYRIA 22/09/2021

Rifaat al-Assad wants out of Paris following embezzlement conviction

Following a Paris appeal court's confirmation on 9 September of the four-year prison sentence pronounced against Rifaat al-Assad last year for misappropriation of Syrian state funds, members of his entourage have begun trying to get rid of their property assets in the French capital.

BELARUS RUSSIA 20/07/2021

Minsk and Moscow look to hold Dmitry Mazepin at arm's length

The embattled owner of Uralkali and Uralchem, who is also hoping to take over the Belarusian state-owned potash company Belaruskali, has been sidelined from Russian-Belarusian decision-making circles.

Dmitry Mazepin, propriétaire d'Uralkali et Uralchem.

RUSSIA 12/05/2021

Putin struggles to renew strategic guard in Middle East

Faced with significant diplomatic and security stakes in that part of the world, the Kremlin is renewing the close guard of siloviki in charge of Russian strategy in the Midle East. But it is struggling to include the younger generation.

SYRIA 19/01/2021

WHO and WFP work with companies close to Assad

UN agencies continue to have business relations with the Damascus regime but some prefer to reveal little about their contracts with local tycoons.

A shipment of humanitarian aid delivered via Cham Wings Airlines to Benghazi in January 2021.

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Africa Intelligence 25/11/2021

Minsk gets by with help from African clients as relations with Europe deteriorate

Belarus is faced with increasingly severe European and US sanctions for dumping migrants on Poland's borders, but is able to defy the EU because it has Russia's active support and because of its numerous arms and agricultural machinery contracts in Africa.

Set up email notifications for these topics

Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan
Abdulrahman Suleiman Al-Ahmad
Alexander Lukashenko
Bashar al-Assad
Bayling Tour
Belavia
Cham Wings Airlines
Dream Job
Dream Travel
European Union
Hafez Makhlouf
Iraqi Airways
Khaled Erikat
Mikhail Bogdanov
Mohamed Makhlouf
Mohammed al-Umrani
New Fleet
Nikolay Borisevich
Oscar Tour
Rami Makhlouf
Rifaat al-Assad
State of the Union
Vizak

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Barzan Holdings, Qatar's defence industry giant springing up out of the desert

Badr Jafar, the businessman 2.0 taking hold in the UAE

Minsk makes murky play to become first EU migrant smuggler

This article may be accessed by subscribers and e-wallet holders (USD 19.50)

2 options offered to continue reading

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Set up email notifications for these topics

Parallel private diplomacy efforts between Kyiv and Minsk secretly thriving

US lobbyists help Belarusian ex-arms czar keep sanctions at bay

Minsk securocrats team up with dissidents to paint a picture of occupation

Belarus intelligence informed Moscow of jammed interception channels over Ukraine

Under pressure from Moscow, Lukashenko closes ranks around his new constitutional project

Brussels sanctions Cham Wings Airlines

EU blocks Sergey Shilov-led Skol Airline's regional expansion plans

NATO outpost Vilnius chagrined over loss of its Belarusan potash business

Poland revives Washington lobbying efforts to protect its defence orders

Mirziyoyev continues overhaul of security service after ousting spymaster Rustam Inoyatov

Syrian firms use Expo 2020 Dubai to get back into the international business scene

Lukashenko holds off on inevitable KGB reform

Rifaat al-Assad wants out of Paris following embezzlement conviction

Minsk and Moscow look to hold Dmitry Mazepin at arm's length

Putin struggles to renew strategic guard in Middle East

WHO and WFP work with companies close to Assad

Minsk gets by with help from African clients as relations with Europe deteriorate

Set up email notifications for these topics

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