Reporters from the Belarusian Investigative Center (BIC), in collaboration with Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza and Radio Liberty Ukraine's project Skhemy, backed by the activist group CyberPartisans, have uncovered a complex scheme that allows sanctioned Belarusian timber to enter the European Union disguised as Central Asian products.
Despite EU sanctions initiated in June 2022, the investigation reveals a persistent flow of Belarusian timber into European markets through indirect re-export schemes, exploiting loopholes and lax enforcement at EU borders.
The scheme came to light following a significant increase in timber imports from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to the EU, with imports from Kazakhstan increasing 74-fold and those from Kyrgyzstan by approximately 18,000 times. Analysis of over 40 supply contracts, alongside documents likely forged, exposed a network facilitating the smuggling of Belarusian timber, circumventing EU customs checks and sanctions.
Kazakhstan, previously not a significant player in the timber trade, reported exports to the EU worth almost €126 million in 2022 and 2023, raising suspicions about the true origin of these goods. The investigation highlights Poland as a key entry point, with imports of the said timber through Poland rising almost fivefold from €14 million in 2022 to nearly €68 million.
The BIC's findings were corroborated by evidence of forged documents, including consignment notes and corporate seals, as verified by independent graphic design experts. These documents facilitated transactions that purportedly involved companies like Nurr-Electro and PLRBL, with the latter being implicated in multiple suspicious deals.
Further investigations revealed the involvement of intermediaries and shell companies, including those linked to Belarusian individuals, in orchestrating these shipments. Notably, Pelina Pavel Bisliuk, a company implicated in the network, was found to have breached sanctions laws by facilitating the import of Russian plywood to Poland, despite EU bans.
