The Belarusian enterprise Agroproduct produces rapeseed oil from raw materials exported from the temporarily occupied areas of the Kherson region and supplies it to the countries of the European Union.
This is stated in the investigation Schemes (a Radio Liberty project), which was prepared in cooperation with Lithuanian, Latvian, and Belarusian partners, as well as the hacker groups "Cyberpartisans" and KibOrg.
According to data from the Federal State Information System "Zerno", in 2023, almost 5 thousand tons of rapeseed were exported from the occupied part of the Kherson region to Belarus. It was received by five companies, including the Belarusian "Agroproduct". It is one of the largest producers of rapeseed oil, which is exported to the EU.
During the first six months of 2024, the European Union countries bought more than 90 000 tons of rapeseed oil from Belarus for more than €67 million. The main buyers are Lithuania, where a ban on the import of Belarusian food products has been in effect since the summer of 2024, and Latvia. According to information from the Belarusian opposition organization "Community of Railwaymen of Belarus", throughout 2024 these countries received approximately 50 000 tons of rapeseed oil each exclusively from "Agroproduct".
Logistics companies in Latvia and Lithuania confirmed their cooperation with the Belarusian “Agroproduct” in a conversation with journalists.
Journalists claim that the company has connections with the Belarusian authorities. The co-founder of the enterprise is the Belarusian company "Transit-Avto 2003". Its owner Alexei Shvedov regularly visited Ukraine together with Alexander Zaitsev, an employee of the Administration of the President of Belarus, as well as with the ex-governor of the Brest region, Konstantin Sumar, who called Lukashenko "a little higher than God". In one of the interviews, the director of "Agroproduct" Oleg Teslyuk boasted of his connections in the authorities, noting that his "requests will be considered".
Belarusian Transit-Avto 2003 was subject to Ukrainian sanctions in 2023 for assisting the Russian army in transporting military equipment and soldiers. However, the oil production company it founded, “Agroproduct”, is not on the EU and Ukrainian sanctions lists, so it has the right to supply products to Europe without hindrance.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.