New $1 billion Belarusian oil trader linked to ‘Lukashenko’s wallet’, investigation finds
Mikalai Vorobei / TUT.by
A new company has appeared on the Belarusian petroleum products market — "Mineral Goods Trade". The company has been operating for only two years, yet its revenue has already exceeded one billion dollars. As revealed by investigators at "Buro", this company is linked to influential businessman Mikalai Vorobei, who is referred to as "Lukashenko's wallet".
The 61-year-old Vorobei ranks among the top 3 most successful businessmen in Belarus, with assets in the fuel and logistics sectors. He has been under EU sanctions since December 2020 and under US sanctions since August 2021. A portion of his assets also made it onto the American "blacklist": "Interservice", "BelKazTrans", "New Oil Company", and others.
Following the introduction of sanctions, Vorobei began opening new companies, registered under trusted individuals. One such company became "Mineral Goods Trade" (MGT), registered in December 2022 in Navapolatsk — the city where the businessman started his career.
MGT's director Andrei Shyshko has experience in oil trading and logistics. Thanks to the "Cyber Partisans", journalists found out that he joined Vorobei's network in 2021. Initially, Shyshko worked at the "New Oil Company", then at a company called "Landresurs". Since June 2023, he has headed "Mineral Goods Trade".
The nominal owner of MGT is Kirill Belyaev — a native of Navapolatsk who spent his entire career working at "Vitebskenergo".
MGT's primary line of business is listed as wholesale trade in fuel oil. Based on 2024 results, the company's revenue exceeded 3.5 billion rubles, while net profit surpassed 51 million rubles — figures that very few Belarusian enterprises can match.
Last year, revenue fell by nearly 80% — to 715 million rubles. Net profit also declined, though far less dramatically — by 2%, to 50 million rubles.
Following the introduction of European sanctions, Belarus lost important petroleum product transportation routes through the Baltic states. As a result, flows have now been redirected through Russian ports, from which Belarusian petroleum products are shipped to other countries — such as India or China. Shell companies are frequently used to circumvent sanctions.
