Donate
by ru en
Donate

We investigate corruption, uncover fake news and analyze the news agenda. The BIC is a member of the global network of investigative journalists.

Our journalists are the recipients of the national award “Free Word” from the Association of Journalists of Belarus in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. At "Free Word" 2021 BIC’s team also received first place for Analytics

BIC is a member of the OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project)

We are also members of GIJN (Global Investigative Journalism Network)

Investigations

Yesterday

Lukashenko’s ex-security guard owns once belonging to Belarus land plot in Sochi

Financial losses of Belarus may reach 100 million dollars.

Source: BIC / Aliaksandr Ramanouski, Viktar Sheiman. AI-generated collage
This land was once owned by the Belarusian state. Now, it is in the hands of Aleksandr Lukashenko’s former guard. BIC has identified the owner of the land that forms part of a ski resort in Sochi. He is the subject of our investigation revealing the owner of land on the Black Sea coast and is related to Viktar Sheiman.

BIC successfully identified the current owner of the plot in Sochi, which was previously owned by the Belarusian state. The 9.7-hectare site in the elite resort of Krasnaya Polyana is owned by OOO Complex-Invest. In 2021 and 2022, Aleksandr Lukashenko issued two secret decrees ordering the land to be sold to this Russian company at a price 20 times lower than the market value, BelPol found out. Belarus could have lost about $100 million on this deal. In February 2024, Aliaksandr Ramanouski, a Belarusian national, bought 99.9% of Complex-Invest [*].

Ramanouski is a former security officer of Aleksandr Lukashenko’s Security Service. They are shown together in a photo from the Victory Parade on 9 May 2014.

Ramanouski also owns 20 hectares of land on the Black Sea coast through his chain of companies. Following Aleksandr Lukashenko’s visit in September 2022, the authorities of the self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia transferred ownership of the property to OOO Zhemchuzhina 2010, which is 90% owned by Ramanouski.

The remaining 10% of the company that received the plot is controlled by brothers Nugzar and Zorik Chkonia through a proxy. The former was described by the media as the “right hand” of the Odesa crime boss known as “Poltava.” The latter is the chairman of the village of Kyndyg, where the allotted plot is located.

Read more about this in the BIC investigation: “The cost of the visit to Abkhazia. Did Lukashenko trade national interests for a plot by the sea?”