October 13, Pozirk. After Alaksandar Łukašenka’s September 2022 visit to Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia, its prime minister approved the transfer of 20 hectares of land a company controlled by the Belarusian ruler’s ex-bodyguard, the Belarusian Investigative Center (BIC) reported.
It found that ex-bodyguard Alaksandar Ramanoŭski is CEO of Termalia, the company that holds a 90-percent stake in OOO Zhemchuzhina 2010, the plot recipient.
A month after Łukašenka’s visit, an Abkhaz television station reported that the land was provided for the construction of an $260-million health resort in the Kyndyg village at the Black Sea coast, in the Ochamchire region.
The investigative journalists used Abkhazia’s register of legal entities to identify the company’s owners and interviewed the minority shareholder, Abkhazian resident Dato Kvitsiniya, who confirmed that the papers were made in his name but he was involved in the deal only for paperwork purposes.
He said he was paid “a small amount” for the registration services.
Zorik Chkonia, head of the Kyndyg village administration, acts on behalf Kvitsiniya under a power of attorney. Chkonia was a field commander during the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, and received the title Hero of Abkhazia, the BIC said.
Termalia was incorporated in Minsk on July 22, 2022 – two months ahead of Łukašenka’s visit to Abkhazia.
According to the reporters, Ramanoŭski also co-owned Globalcustom, a company linked to Viktar Šejman, a close ally of the Belarusian strongman.
“The Chkonia family owns a key asset in the area – thermal springs,” the BIC said.
Zorik Chkonia, according to his Odnoklassniki page, graduated from Odesа Polytechnic University in Ukraine.
Šejman also has ties to Odesa. “His son was born near Odesa, and his ex-wife’s relatives continue to live in the city. The Šejman-linked Globalkast was registered in the name of one of them, Anna Khmelevskaya,” the BIC said.
It is Šejman and his people, not the Chkonia clan or Ramanoŭski, who run OOO Zhemchuzhina 2010.
“This is proved by correspondence with Abkhazian officials. The BIC learned about it thanks to documents provided by BelPol, the association of former Belarusian security officers,” the reporters said.
In an April 2023 letter concerning taxes levied on OOO Zhemchuzhina 2010, the Abkhazian foreign minister addresses Šejman as a “special representative of the president of the Republic of Belarus,” although he was not holding any official posts in the Belarusian government at the time
The BIC also noted Šejman’s presence at Łukašenka’s talks with Abkhazian leader Aslan Bzhania in 2022 and 2023.
As a matter of fact, two years after the transfer of the site to OOO Zhemchuzhina 2010, the construction of the resort has not begun. “Satellite images taken at the end of August 2024 show that the territory remains undeveloped,” the reporters said.
Georgia considers Abkhazia its sovereign territory. Its independence has been recognized only by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru and Syria. Tbilisi lost control over the region sixteen years ago, during the Russian-Georgian War.
Georgia has criticized Minsk for cooperating with Abkhazia behind its back. However, Belarus has not officially recognized Abkhazia’s independence.
