 | |
| Status | Active |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2018 |
| Founder | Stanislau Ivashkevich |
| Country of origin | Belarus |
| Headquarters location | Warsaw, Poland |
| Distribution | Online |
| Official website | investigatebel |
The Belarusian Investigative Center (BIC) is an independent media outlet from Belarus that operates in exile. The center offers five core types of content: investigative journalism, fact-checking, analytical reporting, news, and economic analysis. [1]
The Belarusian Investigative Center was established in 2018. [2] The team of the center left Belarus in 2021 amid a crackdown on media outlets and the arrest of journalists by Belarusian authorities. Following a search of the BIC studio in Minsk, most of the team relocated abroad. [1]
On June 29, 2021, the website of the BIC was blocked in Belarus. [1]
In October 2022, the Minsk city prosecutor's office designated the information products of the Belarusian Investigative Center, as well as logos featuring the abbreviation "BIC" and the words "Belarusian Investigative Center," as "extremist materials." [3]
In December 2022, the Belarusian Investigative Center joined the Global Investigative Journalism Network, and became a member center of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. [4]
On September 15, 2023, the Belarusian Supreme Court designated the Belarusian Investigative Center as an "extremist organization." [5]
In late July 2024 it became known that several current and former BIC members were put on the wanted list. [6]
In January 2022, the Belarusian Investigative Center together with Re:Baltica, Delfi Estonia published an investigative report revealing a threefold increase in oil exports from Belarus to Estonia between 2020 and 2021. Consequently, on February 4, 2022, Estonia announced additional sanctions against Belarus, including the suspension of coal and oil transit. [7]
Following a joint investigation by BIC and The Guardian, British authorities froze the London property of Said Gutseriev, valued at $200 million. Said Gutseriev is the son of Mikhail Gutseriev, a key financial supporter of Belarusian authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko. [8]
In December 2022, Lithuanian businessman Saulius Girčys was expelled from his political party following an investigation by BIC, which revealed his involvement in the illegal sale of Belarusian timber to the EU via Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. [9]
After a joint investigation with the Lithuanian media outlet Siena into ways of circumventing sanctions against Grodno Azot, Lithuania seized Belarusian fertilizers worth millions of euros and strengthened border controls. [10]
In November 2023, the Belarusian Investigative Center collaborated with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Paper Trail Media, and 69 media partners, alongside over 270 journalists from 55 countries, to produce the "Cyprus Confidential" report. This investigation uncovered a financial network supporting Vladimir Putin's regime, primarily through connections in Cyprus. The report revealed that Cyprus has significant ties with high-ranking Kremlin figures, some of whom have been sanctioned. [11] [12]
GWithin 24 hours of the investigation's release, government officials, including Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and European lawmakers, responded by calling for reforms and initiating probes into the findings. [13] [14]
The BIC has also conducted investigations into numerous Belarusian companies and high-profile individuals, including Belaruskali, [15] BelAZ, [16] Belshina, [17] Dana Holdings , [18] Grodno Azot, [19] Integral , [20] Irina Abelskaya , [3] Aliaksei Aleksin, [21] Yury Chyzh, [3] Mikhail Gutseriev, [22] Aliaksandr Shakutsin, [23] Viktor Sheiman, [3] Pavel Topuzidis , [24] Siarhei Tsiatsieryn , [25] Mikalai Varabei [26] and Aleksandr Zaitsev . [27]
The BIC has also investigated the Belarus–EU migration crisis, [28] the abductions of the Ukrainian children [29] a Russian filtration camp for Ukrainians in Belarus, [30] and the Russian looting of Ukrainian grain, [31] including Belarusian involvement in it. [32] Some of the BIC's investigations have been conducted in collaboration with OCCRP, ICIJ, Cyber Partisans, Belsat TV, Radio Liberty, Rzeczpospolita and local investigative media outlets, such as 15min, Armando.Info, Gazeta Wyborcza, Heimildin, iStories, Kloop, L'Espresso, Paper Trail Media, Re:Baltica, Süddeutsche Zeitung or The Guardian.
The Belarusian Investigative Center produces several notable video programs, including "News with Chaly" and "Chaly: Economics." Their show "Weekly Top Fake" stands out for its dedication to debunking fake news in Belarusian and Russian media. [33]
Journalists from the Belarusian Investigative Center have been honored with the national "Free Word" award from the Belarusian Association of Journalists in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. At the "Free Word" awards in 2021, the BIC team also secured first place in the Analytics category. [34]
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an area of 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) with a population of 9.1 million. The country has a hemiboreal climate and is administratively divided into six regions. Minsk is the capital and largest city; it is administered separately as a city with special status.
BelAZ is a Belarusian automobile plant and one of the world's largest manufacturers of large and especially large dump trucks, as well as other heavy transport equipment for the mining and construction industries.
Mutual relations between the Republic of Belarus and the European Union (EU) were initially established after the European Economic Community recognised Belarusian independence in 1991.
Mikail (Mikhail) Safarbekovich Gutseriev is a Russian billionaire businessperson of Ingush descent. Gutseriev earned his fortune after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is a global network of investigative journalists with staff on six continents. It was founded in 2006 and specializes in organized crime and corruption.
OJSC Belarusian Steel Works is a Belarusian company operating in the steel industry, centred in Zhlobin, Gomel Region. The main raw material of the enterprise is scrap. The company's products range from concast square steel billets, hot rolled round & square steel bars, rebars, hot rolled seamless pipe, high carbon wire rod, tyre steel cord, bead wire, hose wire, general purpose wire, to steel fiber. In 2020—2021, the company fired several employees trying to organize a strike during protests in Belarus, three of them were imprisoned.
Yury Chyzh is a Belarusian businessman, believed to be one of the country's richest people. According to estimates, he is the second-wealthiest businessman in Belarus, the first being Vladimir Peftiev. On March 23, 2012, Chyzh was included in EU's travel ban list because of his alleged ties to the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.
Corruption in Cyprus is a salient concern for people in Cyprus: As of 2022, 94% considered that corruption was widespread in the country.
Dmitry Aleksandrovich Lukashenko or Dzmitry Alyaksandravich Lukashenka is a Belarusian businessman. He is the second-oldest son of Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus.
The 2020–2021 Belarusian protests were a series of mass political demonstrations and protests against the Belarusian government and President Alexander Lukashenko. The largest anti-government protests in the history of Belarus, the demonstrations began in the lead-up to and during the 2020 presidential election, in which Lukashenko sought his sixth term in office. In response to the demonstrations, a number of relatively small pro-government rallies were held.
Aliaksei Ivanavich Aleksin is a Belarusian businessman, who is closely associated with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.
Mikalai Mikalaevich Varabei is a Belarusian businessman. Due to his close relations with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, the Council of the European Union imposed sanctions on him, as did several non-EU countries.
Belaruskali is one of the largest state-owned companies of Belarus. It is one of the largest producers of potash fertilizers in the world, accounting for 20% global supply as of 2019.
Aliaksandr Shakutsin is a Belarusian businessman, allegedly close to Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. Media widely characterize Shakutsin as an oligarch. On 17 December 2020, the Council of the European Union imposed sanctions on him.
In August 2021, the government of Belarus began coordinating an influx of migrants, mostly from the Middle East and North Africa, to the borders of Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. Although Belarus denied involvement, both the European Union and independent observers viewed it as hybrid warfare undertaken in response to the deterioration in Belarus–European Union relations following the 2020 Belarusian presidential election and the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests. Between August and December 2021, tens of thousands of unauthorized border crossing attempts were recorded, peaking in October. At least 20 migrants died in the following winter due to the harsh weather and abuse from border authorities. Attempted border crossings fell sharply the following year, but never returned to their pre-crisis levels. In the spring of 2024, numbers began rising again, although they remain well below those seen in the peak of the crisis in 2021.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has supported its eastern neighbour in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before the start of the offensive, Belarus allowed the Russian Armed Forces to perform weeks-long military drills on its territory; however, the Russian troops did not exit the country after they were supposed to finish. Belarus allowed Russia to stage part of the invasion from its territory, giving Russia the shortest possible land route to Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. However, these forces withdrew within two months, thus ceasing land-based military operations originating from Belarus and resulting in the recapture of the Ukrainian side of the border region by Ukraine. Despite this, the situation along the border remains tense, with Ukraine closing the border checkpoints leading into Belarus, bar special cases.
iStories or Important Stories is an independent Russian website specialising in investigative journalism. The website was founded in 2020 by Russian journalists Roman Anin and Olesya Shmagun. IStories published a number of high-profile investigations. The office of the website is located in Latvia.
Cyprus Confidential is a journalism project investigating financial services in Cyprus and their role in allowing avoidance of international sanctions, and implementation of Russian state goals. It is conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Paper Trail Media and 69 media partners including Distributed Denial of Secrets and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and more than 270 journalists in 55 countries and territories. Other media partners included Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, the Belarusian Investigative Center, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, CBC, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, Le Monde, Politiken, Swedish Television (SVT), Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism, Ukraine's Slidstvo and The Washington Post.
The New Belarus passport project was initiated by the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus to provide legal identification for the citizens of Belarus emigrated for political reasons, in response to the decree of President Alexander Lukashenko forbidding the issuance and renewal of Belarusian passports abroad. For the oppositionists to return to Belarus for passport renewal means an imminent prosecution.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)