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Antifake / Factcheck

Yesterday

Azarenok named corruption as the cause of Garsu Pasaulis's problems. Why was Garsu Pasaulis actually dropped?

The Weekly Top Fake team recalls why Garsu Pasaulis had come under scrutiny.

Authors:
Editors:
Fake appearance date: 28.01.2025
Grigoriy Azarenok said that the Lithuanian company, which was supposed to print "New Belarus" passports, is being shut down due to corruption. The Weekly Top Fake team recalls the actual reason why Garsu Pasaulis had come under scrutiny.

Belarusian democratic forces unveiled the New Belarus passport and began accepting pre-orders for it on January 26, 2025. Discussing this topic with deputy Oleg Gaidukevich on the live stream "Azarenok.Directly" on January 28, 2025, Grigoriy Azarenok stated that the company that printed the document was exposed for corruption: 

"The funniest thing is that the print shop where they produced it is now being shut down for corruption."

It is likely referring to the Lithuanian company Garsu Pasaulis, which the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya initially selected as a partner to print the "New Belarus" passport. The company became embroiled in a scandal that erupted after the publication at the end of May 2024 of an investigation by BIC and the Lithuanian media 15min.lt titled "'New Belarus' Passport and Lukashenko's Longtime 'Moneybag' Link. Revealing the Connection of the Company Designing the Document to Viktor Shevtsov." However, the cause of the scandal is not corruption.

BIC's investigative journalists discovered that Garsu Pasaulis is connected to Belarusian businessman Viktor Shevtsov, whom media outlets have referred to as Alexander Lukashenko's financier. This information was verified by the Lithuanian authorities, after which the State Security Department deemed Garsu Pasaulis unreliable. Their contract for producing Lithuanian passports and excise stamps was terminated, as reported by Lithuania's Ministry of Internal Affairs last September. The company announced that it would appeal this decision in court. At the time of publication, Marius Gudelaitis, director of the Belarusian Passport Center who is overseeing the "New Belarus" passport project, stated that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Office has also declined the company's services.

From 2017 to 2021, Garsu Pasaulis was involved in corruption investigations in Kyrgyzstan, Zimbabwe, and Moldova. However, last year's events are not related to those cases, and the company continued its operations in Lithuania.

Whether Garsu Pasaulis is closing down or not is not certain at the time of publication.