Redistribution of market among large businesses in Belarus before presidential elections

On August 19^th, citing “reliable sources” www.belaruspartisan.org reported about the detention of Yuri Chizh business partner, who ranked 19th in the top of the most influential Belarusian businessmen according to Yezhednevnik. Yet there was no official confirmation of the detention of ‘Triple’ holding co-owner Vladimir Yaprintsev. Recently, ‘Triple’ holding, whose major owner is Yuri Chizh, Lukashenka’s close friend, has been engaged in a scandal around its failure to meet obligations vis-a-vis a Ukrainian company, to which ‘Triple’ had agreed to supply 2000 tons of diesel fuel with total worth circa USD 1.6 million. In recent years, the Belarusian company ‘Triple’ consistently strengthened its positions on the Ukrainian market of petroleum products (in 2011-2012 ‘Triple’ was re-exporting Russian oil products under the guise of solvents and lubricants in order to avoid export duty payments to the Russian budget). Large Belarusian businesses in Lukashenka’s close environment are likely to be redistributing the most profitable markets ahead of the presidential elections.