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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)

News

Yesterday
The German corporation has terminated its contract with the company that supplied chemicals to Integral

The microchips produced at Integral are used in Russian missiles.

The German chemical corporation Wacker Chemie has terminated its contracts with UrSeCo Handels, a company based in Düsseldorf. Earlier, BIC journalists revealed the company's involvement in a supply chain that circumvented sanctions to deliver chlorine hydride to the Belarusian state enterprise Integral.

"We have investigated the case in question in which WACKER products are alleged to have been delivered independently by a German buyer to Belarus via Kazakhstan. As a precautionary measure, we suspended all business activities between this company and WACKER as soon as we commenced our investigations. The company has not yet been classified as critical and is not on any sanctions list.  Nevertheless, we have decided to discontinue the business relationship as the company in question has been unable to provide us with unequivocal proof of how and where our products were ultimately used," a Wacker Chemie representative stated in a letter to German channel N-TV journalist Sergey Mayer on February 18, 2025.

In the investigation titled "Deadly chips. How Integral bypasses sanctions and helps Russia keep the war going" BIC journalists uncovered a supply chain from Germany to Belarus of ultra-pure chlorine hydride. This chemical is used at the Integral enterprise for processing semiconductor wafers, ensuring their perfect cleanliness and smoothness. The European Union banned the supply of this chemical to Russia in 2022 and to Belarus in 2024.

The microchips produced at Integral are used in Russian missiles. According to customs data, from March 2022 to June 2024, the plant supplied Russia with over 6 million microchips valued at more than $130 million.