Belarus Used to Reduce Budget Payments on Shipments of Sanctioned Goods to Russia — BIC

Reform.news Editorial Team · 29 September 2026, 10:37

https://reform.news/en/belarus-used-to-reduce-budget-payments-on-shipments-of-sanctioned-goods-to-russia-bic/

The Belarusian Investigative Center has described Belarus’s less obvious role in shipments of sanctioned goods to Russia. As a result, the country is a “loophole” not only in European sanctions but also in Russia’s budget revenues.

A logistics specialist told BIC journalists that one potential benefit for Russian importers of routing sanctioned goods through Belarus is the optimization of customs payments.

Before being shipped to Russia, sanctioned goods are usually resold several times between different companies. The chain may involve several companies from different countries, each of which has to add a markup. If goods are shipped directly to Russia, Russian customs authorities can see the entire chain, which affects the declared value of the goods and the amount of duties.

“That is why it is easier to take a detour through Belarus, reduce the declared price to the minimum, and then sell the goods in Russia,” the BIC source explained.

The Belarusian Investigative Center cites findings from its investigations as an example. In early 2024, for instance, the company Brandshandel supplied Finnish watches to Russia at a price of about $13 per unit. However, investigators found that the wholesale price of the same watches shipped from Turkey to Turkmenistan was nearly $270. According to BIC, Brandshandel is linked to Viktar Sheiman. Since early 2024, goods worth more than $400,000 have passed through the company on their way to Russia.

The second benefit of shipments through Belarus is related to certification. Many goods require a certificate of origin. Russia generally does not accept certificates of origin along such supply chains because the consignor and consignee listed on them do not match. As a result, higher duties also have to be paid.

“In Belarus, the certificate can be reissued through the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, allowing them to avoid additional charges,” the BIC source said.

The use of these schemes declined in mid-2024, when the transit of a number of goods from the EU through Belarus was banned, making “false transit” more difficult. Under this arrangement, a company in Central Asia or the South Caucasus was listed as the consignee. However, the ban does not cover all sanctioned goods, and shipments through third countries remain possible.