MAZ uses China, North Korea to circumvent sanctions – OSINT

February 6, Pozirk. Belarusian manufacturers operate an extensive network of front companies to circumvent Western sanctions and obtain components from China and North Korea, defence24.pl reports, citing security experts and analysts from the Dallas OSINT group.
The Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ), Belarus’ leading manufacturer of trucks, including launch vehicles for intercontinental ballistic missiles, is a part of sanction evasion scheme that links some of the world’s most heavily sanctioned regimes, the report said.
Following the introduction of Western sanctions, MAZ stepped up its integration with the Russian defense sector, part of a broader trend in which more than 80 percent of Belarusian companies are now fulfilling orders linked to Russian military production, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
MAZ and other Belarusian plants have established a system for purchasing sanctioned components through Chinese intermediaries to conceal their true military purpose, the analysts noted. They identified Alaksiej Adamovič as one of the key figures in the scheme.
Adamovič is a long-time MAZ employee who now serves as commercial director of the Michanavičy Logistics Center, which the analysts believe is a front company used to purchase MAZ production lines and shield the sanctioned plant from direct exposure to supplier networks.
Since 2023, Adamovič reportedly connected Russian military manufacturers to Asian suppliers with the Ural Automotive Plant (UralAZ), manufacturing military trucks for the Russian armed forces since 1944, among his major clients.
Adamovič is also alleged to have ordered large batches of components from North Korea’s Chosun Kyonghun 1, including precision steering systems, electronic control modules, drive shafts and exhaust system parts.
The cooperation is ongoing rather than isolated and violates UN Security Council Resolutions 2375 and 2397 banning commercial ties with North Korean state structures, the analysts stressed.
In February 2022, Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine in which the Belarusian authorities supported the Kremlin, allowing Russian troops to attack Ukraine from Belarus on multiple occasions and supplying arms to Moscow.
BelPol report highlights China’s role in Belarus’ militarization
- Politics, SocietyBelarus sentences Lithuanian man to 15 years in prison on spying chargesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja’s team sounds alarm over dissident passport annulmentsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyMigration pressure mounts on Lithuania as Vilnius refuses talks with MinskThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyCompanies’ debt on loans up 11 percent since March 2025The material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBelarusian banks’ profits down 12.3 percent year on yearThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, Society
- Politics, SecurityNorthwestern Operational Command launches three-day command staff exerciseThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- SocietyCompany under investigation for allegedly bringing Belarusians to Poland using fake declarationsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyPolish border guards arrest 10 Belarusians in crackdown on cigarette smugglersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityBalloons from Belarus force another brief closure of Vilnius airportThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsPrakop’eŭ-Jahoraŭ group decides against fielding candidates in Coordination Council electionThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyRecord-breaking air temperatures reported in eastern Belarus on March 30The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsAide to Lithuanian president skeptical about engagement with Minsk without preconditionsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyUN rights council extends Belarus mandates by one yearThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, Society
- Economy, PoliticsBelarus extends ban on certain Lithuanian importsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: Minsk man convicted of facilitating extremismThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyBelarus annuls passports of former political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics



