Belarusian Investigative Center

The Belarusian Investigative Center (BIC) is an independent media outlet specializing in analytical genres of journalism. The center produces five types of expertise - journalistic research, anti-fake, as well as analytical reporting, news programs and economic surveys.[1]

Belarusian Investigative Center
StatusActive
Founded2018
FounderStanislau Ivashkevich
Country of originBelarus
Headquarters locationWarsaw, Poland
DistributionOnline

History

The Belarusian Investigative Center was established in 2018.[2] The team of the center left Belarus in 2021, when the Belarusian authorities began to actively repress various media outlets and arrest journalists. The BIC studio in Minsk was also searched, after which most of the team went abroad.[1]

On June 29, 2021, the website of the BIC was blocked.[1]

In October 2022, according to the Minsk city prosecutor's office, information products of the Belarusian Investigative Center, as well as logos containing the abbreviation "BIC" and the words "Belarusian Investigative Center" were recognized as "extremist materials".[3]

In December 2022, the Belarusian Investigative Center joined the Global Investigative Journalism Network. Earlier this year, the center became a member of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.[4]

On September 15, 2023 the Belarusian Supreme Court has recognized the Belarusian Investigative Center as an "extremist organization."[5]

Investigations

In January 2022, the Belarusian Investigative Center together with Re:Baltica, Delfi Estonia published an investigative material in which they showed a three-fold increase in oil exports from Belarus to Estonia when comparing the figures for 2021 and 2020. On February 4, 2022, Estonia announced the introduction of additional sanctions against Belarus in the form of suspension of coal oil transit.[6]

After a joint investigation of BIC and The Guardian, the British authorities froze the London property of Said Gutseriev, the son of Lukashenka's "wallet" Mikhail Gutseriev, worth 200 million dollars.[7]

In December 2022, businessman Saulius Girchys, who participated in the scheme of illegal sale of Belarusian forest to the EU through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, was expelled from his political party as a result of the investigation by the BIC.[8]

After a joint investigation with Siena into ways of circumventing sanctions against Grodno Azot, Lithuania seized Belarusian fertilizers worth millions of euros and strengthened border controls.[9]

Overall, the BIC has produced investigations about Belarusian companies and VIPs such as BelAZ,[10] Dana Holdings,[11] Grodno Azot,[12] Irina Abelskaya,[3] Aliaksei Aleksin,[13] Yury Chyzh,[3] Mikhail Gutseriev,[14] Aliaksandr Shakutsin,[15] Viktor Sheiman,[3] Pavel Topuzidis,[16] Siarhei Tsiatsieryn,[17] Mikalai Varabei[18] and Aleksandr Zaitsev,[19] as well as about the Belarus–EU migration crisis[20] and the abductions of the Ukrainian children.[21] Some of the BIC investigations were made together with OCCRP, Cyber Partisans and local investigative media such as Armando.Info, iStories or Re:Baltica.

Programs
  • News with Chaly
  • Chaly: Economics
  • Weekly Top Fake — a weekly show that exposes fake news in the Belarusian and Russian media. The program is a signatory to the Poynter Institute's International Fact-Checking Network Code of Principles.[22]

Awards

Journalists of the BIC are the recipients of the national award "Free Word" from the Belarusian Association of Journalists in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. At "Free Word" 2021 BIC's team also received first place for Analytics.[23]

References
  1. "Белорусские журналисты-расследователи продолжают работу из-за рубежа". golosameriki.com (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  2. "Belarusian Investigative Center". Archived from the original on 2023-07-11. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  3. "Exiled Belarusian investigative website deemed 'extremist' by Minsk". Euractiv. 2022-11-02.
  4. Беларускі расследавальніцкі цэнтр уступіў у GIJN
  5. Belarusian Supreme Court Labels Respected Investigative Center As 'Extremist'
  6. The Belarus-Baltics trade war
  7. The sanctioned oligarch’s son and a £160m London property empire
  8. Lithuanian Politician gets Expelled from the Party after OCCRP Investigation
  9. Lithuania Cracks Down on Sanction Evasion Schemes after OCCRP Investigation
  10. Cerniauskas, Sarunas; Yarashevich, Ales; Kranceviciute, Migle (2021-11-25). "Ex-Prison Warden in Lithuania Struck $1M Deal with Sanctioned Belarusian State Truckmaker". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
  11. Cerniauskas, Sarunas; Yarashevich, Ales; Kranceviciute, Migle (2021-11-25). "Lukashenko Doles Out Prime Belarus Real Estate to Serbian Cronies". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
  12. Gotev, Georgi (2023-02-21). "Belarus fertilisers sanction-busting schemes revealed". Euractiv.
  13. Yarashevich, Ales; Karpeka, Aliaksei; Ratmirova, Olga; Cerniauskas, Sarunas (2021-11-29). "Soon After Taking Over Belarus' Tobacco Industry, Oligarch Donated Luxury Cars to Lukashenko Regime". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
  14. Jolly, Jasper (2022-05-24). "The sanctioned oligarch's son and a £160m London property empire". The Guardian.
  15. "Belarusian oligarch uses Lithuanian firm to dodge sanctions in Germany – media". Lithuanian National Radio and Television. 2023-02-13. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  16. Bne IntelliNews. 2022-03-25 https://www.intellinews.com/comment-eu-s-sanctions-need-to-cover-belarus-mini-oligarchy-239353/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. "Расследование: друг Лукашенко поставляет в Беларусь шоколад из Европы в обход санкций". Current Time TV (in Russian). 2023-03-06. Archived from the original on 2023-04-24. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  18. Gotev, Georgi (2022-09-27). "Lavish Austrian property of EU-sanctioned Belarusian oligarch revealed". Euractiv. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  19. Gotev, Georgi (2023-04-25). "'Lukashenko wallet' used Catholic Church to evade EU sanctions". Euractiv.
  20. Ivashkevich, Stanislau (2023-08-06). "A new migration crisis is brewing on border with Belarus. This time, the trail starts in Russia". Lithuanian National Radio and Television.
  21. Gotev, Georgi (2023-08-01). "Belarusian connection revealed in children's abductions from Ukraine". Euractiv.
  22. About us
  23. Awards
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