April 29, Pozirk. Amkador, a major Belarusian manufacturer of construction and logging equipment, is purchasing seats from Germany’s Grammer AG through a company in Kazakhstan to evade sanctions, the BelPol opposition intelligence group said.
The report is based on a leaked response to Amkador’s bid to purchase 30 seats at €934 each with payment in advance.
The deal has been done, BelPol said, noting that the seats are to be manufactured within 30 to 60 days and delivered within 40 days.
The information has been passed on to the European and United States agencies overseeing sanctions implementation, the group said, noting that redirecting supplies chains via third countries is typical of sanctions evasion.
Earlier this month, Alaksandar Łukašenka indicated that Amkador was in trouble. He made this remark after Belarusian independent outlets reported the sacking of its long-time CEO Alaksandar Šakucin, a businessman with close links to Łukašenka and under the European Union’s sanctions since 2020.
Over the past few years, democratic countries have imposed multiple restrictions on Belarus over human rights abuses, alleged vote rigging in the 2020 presidential election, a brutal crackdown on protesters, the forced landing of a Ryanair flight, a migration crisis at the European Union border, as well as support of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
