The former security officers’ initiative BELPOL says it has obtained internal BelAZ documents revealing the schemes the company uses to adapt to sanctions.
For customers in European Union countries, BelAZ uses a scheme involving the delivery of disassembled equipment. Formally, buyers receive frames, dump bodies, cabins, axles, wheels, hydraulic units, power units, and other components that can later be assembled into haul trucks. The suppliers are Singapore-based FINMINING LTD. and Gomel Starting Motor Plant OJSC.
Intermediaries are offered special pricing terms to compensate for additional costs related to logistics, documentation, and financial transactions.
A different scheme is used in Chile, also involving FINMINING LTD. The Singaporean company owns the haul trucks and leases them to Chilean companies. According to BelAZ’s estimates, operating the equipment generates around $100,000 in profit each month.
The Development Bank plays a key role in this arrangement by providing export financing. The Singaporean company uses the loan proceeds to pay BelAZ, while the loan is repaid from revenue generated by leasing the equipment.
BELPOL notes that the lifting of U.S. sanctions against the Development Bank has made such schemes easier to implement, as counterparties previously had to take additional risks into account when conducting transactions with the bank.
