This investigation was produced with the assistance of the Rabochy Ruch initiative and the support of the CyberPartisans.

ZAT HrandSpiecTrejdynh is officially authorized to engage in the wholesale trade of a wide range of goods, including medicines, perfumes, household chemicals, toys, jewelry, and scrap metal. Military products were added to this list after the company was granted special exporter status. The enterprise received this status just three months after registering. On February 16, 2026, Aleksandr Lukashenko signed the relevant decree. HrandSpiecTrejdynh is the fourth active organization in Belarus with authorization to conduct special exports. Since the 1990s, three other companies have been operating in the arms and dual-use goods market.

Undercover director

As a closed joint-stock company, HrandSpiecTrejdynh is not required to disclose shareholder information to the same extent as open joint-stock companies. However, the BIC obtained documents showing that Eugeniy Golovchits became the company’s director in March 2026 thanks to the Rabochy Ruch initiative. [*] [*] [*] Golovchits has served at the Ministry of Internal Affairs since at least the early 2000s. He later worked at the State Secretariat of the Security Council of Belarus. Then, he moved on to serve at the Operations and Analysis Center under the President of the Republic of Belarus. This center is responsible for protecting state secrets, ensuring information security, and overseeing the country’s critical information infrastructure.

Since March 2022, Golovchits has served as deputy head of the Institute for Advanced Training and Retraining of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus while holding the rank of colonel of justice. In 2023, Lukashenko awarded Golovchits the Medal for Impeccable Service, First Class. Golovchits was honorably retired on March 18, 2026, and the next day, he was hired as the director of HrandSpiecTrejdynh.

The BIC found that Golovchits had a cover passport issued in the name of Yauhen Malakhouski. It is a legitimate document issued to an operative officer or an agent, primarily for undercover infiltration and operational experiments. [*]

Sheiman’s man

The BIC obtained data indicating that Aliaksandr Yurachkin, an employee of an organization within the Belarus President Property Management Directorate, was involved in the registration process for HrandSpiecTrejdynh. We have reason to believe he is close to Viktar Sheiman, an associate of Aleksandr Lukashenko.

From 2011 to 2024, Yurachkin worked as a lawyer and the head of the legal department at Belarustorg. This state-owned enterprise is managed by the Belarus President Property Management Directorate. Sheiman headed the Directorate from 2013 to 2021. 

A few months before Sheiman left public service, Yurachkin started working part-time at Vector Capital Group CJSC. This company is considered to be part of Sheiman’s shadow business empire. BIC previously reported that, while serving as Lukashenko’s chief administrator, he spent many years overseeing major businesses built on state-granted privileges. Even after resigning, Sheiman continued to patronize several major business projects.

Aliaksandr Yurachkin is also listed as an employee of Komplex-Invest LLC in Minsk. This company is constructing a VIP facility near Sochi that may become Aleksandr Lukashenko’s first residence abroad. Komplex-Invest secured financing for the project from companies connected to Viktar Sheiman.

A career military officer with experience in weapons sales

While conducting the investigation, a BIC journalist posed as a potential client of HrandSpiecTrejdynh and called Aliaksandr Yurachkin several times. During their first conversation, the journalist introduced himself as an employee of a UAE-registered company interested in purchasing military goods “for the needs of the special military operation.” During the second conversation, Yurachkin asked his interlocutor if he knew a man identified by independent media outlets as the head of a special unit created in the late 1990s by Sheiman’s orders. This unit was linked to the political assassinations and disappearances of opponents of Aleksandr Lukashenko.

“I was told that I should have contacted Viktar Sheiman directly,” said the journalist.

“Who told you that?” Yurachkin asked.

“A colleague,” replied the journalist.

“Colleague, colleague, colleague... Have you received a call yet [regarding a partnership with HrandSpiecTrejdynh]?”

“No, not yet.”

“Oh, so they haven’t called you yet... Tell me, does the name Uladzimir Skulavets ring a bell?” Yurachkin mentioned the name for the first time.

“Who again?”

“Uladzimir Skulavets.”

“Is he the best person to talk to [about collaborating with HrandSpiecTrejdynh]?” the journalist asked.

“Yes,” Yurachkin confirmed.

According to data from CyberPartisans, Uladzimir Skulavets served at the Main Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Belarus (now the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus) from 1996 to 2001. CyberPartisans have no precise information about his place of military service between 2001 and 2008, this gap may indirectly indicate the non-public nature of Skulavets’s service during that period.

In the mid-2000s, journalists referred to him as “Sheiman’s most trusted confidant.” The link between them is traceable for decades. From January 2020 to November 2022, Skulavets served as assistant to the head of the Presidential Property Management Directorate —meaning he was Sheiman’s right-hand man for almost 18 months. In late 2022, the official moved from government service into Sheiman’s business empire. As of December 2025, Skulavets worked at Vector Capital Group as Deputy Director. From 2008 to 2011, he worked at Belspetsvneshtechnika, a state-owned enterprise with special exporter status.

Special status for servicing the Russian military-industrial complex?

Special exporter status gives a Belarusian company the exclusive right to trade specific goods, including military and dual-use products. It also allows the company to conduct certain transactions avoiding transparent procedures, such as open tenders. In addition to HrandSpiecTrejdynh, these authorizations have been granted to SFTUE Belvneshpromservice, State-owned Foreign Trade Unitary Enterprise Belspetsvneshtechnika, and JOINT STOCK COMPANY Beltechexport. [*]

Belvneshpromservice is a state-owned enterprise established to promote Belarusian defense sector products in international markets. Belspetsvneshtechnika, a state-owned enterprise, is officially involved in the production, modernization, and export of weapons and military equipment. Beltechexport is a private company officially engaged in the export and import of weapons. All three companies are subject to EU and U.S. sanctions.

Military analyst Ivan Lysiuk of the publication Vot Tak explains that “in the trade of weapons, weapon components, and dual-use goods that can be used for weapons production, the state holds a monopoly and strictly regulates this sector, which is why access is limited to only a select few companies.” He does not rule out that the emergence of a new special exporter is linked to an increase in component shipments from Belarus to meet the needs of the Russian defense industry.

“We see that the Belarusian defense industry is gradually shifting toward closer cooperation with the Russian defense industry. In other words, it’s not about supplying specific weapons systems, but rather dual-use goods and components that the Russian defense industry can use [for its own purposes]. [...] Currently, Belarusian companies are actively supplying Russia with components for drones. There are also plans to further strengthen this cooperation. Therefore, when it comes to the emergence of a new special exporter, it seems to me that this has much more to do with specific military-economic relations with Russia than with any major breakthrough made by Belarusian defense manufacturers.”

The BIC reached out to the companies involved in the investigation and to Eugeniy Golovchits, Aliaksandr Yurachkin, and Uladzimir Skulavets for comment. At the time of publication, we have not received any responses.