Wagner Group’s Russia Mutiny puts African Gold and Beer Empire under Pressure

The Russian mercenary groups’ commercial network in Central African Republic will be under pressure.

Two men, with rifles strapped on their backs, huddle in the grass. They hold Molotov cocktail in their hands and hurl them high over the barbed-wire fence at stacked red beer crates. Smoke plumes fill the air.

A fire in Bangui, capital of Central African Republic, destroyed 50,000 bottles of beer at a French alcohol company Castel’s brewery. According to sources familiar with the case, officials from two Western countries who have reviewed the closed circuit footage believe the perpetrators are members of the Wagner Group.

It is alleged that the notorious Russian paramilitary group, whose founder Yevgeny Prgozhin was closely linked to the Kremlin up until last weekend when he launched a rebellion against President Vladimir Putin, has committed many human rights violations, ranging from the brutal murder of civilians, in which it played a major role, to raping and executing villagers in CAR, and Mali. It has played a leading role in the Kremlin’s efforts to expand its influence in Africa for more than a half-decade, earning friends, security services contracts, and lucrative mining licences in half a dozen African nations.

Why would Wagner attack an brewer? Another set of pictures, taken 12 miles away, provides an explanation. Bloomberg, in collaboration with the Paris-based investigative team All Eyes on Wagner has located a new brewery. Satellite images reveal that the land used to be a dirt and open area a year ago. The large metal vats and warehouse that are located there produce a beer called Africa Ti L’Or. It is owned by a Wagner company. Wagner’s brewery is a part of an empire of business Wagner established in the CAR, with Russia as a backer. According to trade data and satellite imagery, as well as interviews with those familiar with the situation, the empire extends across nearly every sector of CAR’s economy. Wagner owns CAR’s largest gold mine, which can produce as much as $29 million in gold per year. He also controls a timber concession the size of New York City. The company’s beer production is paired with a vodka business that makes cheap vodka.

By the weekend, Prigozhin had agreed to end his insurrection in Belarus and go into exile. Wagner’s rupture with the Kremlin raises concerns about the future of his operations in Libya and Mali. Nowhere in Africa will be affected more than the CAR. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and has been a testing ground for Russia’s African strategy. Since 2018, 2,000 Wagner fighters are supporting the government of Faustin Archange Touadera, who was deployed to the country as part of a bilateral agreement on security with Moscow. Kessy Ekomo-Soignet, the director of Peace and Development Watch in Bangui, said that if the relationship between Wagner and the Russian government is broken, then their relationship with CAR and Mali will also be broken. What is happening “is destroying the narrative,” that the CAR is being supported from Moscow. Instead, it shows that “CAR’s president is an official hostage of Wagner.”

Fidele GOUANDJIKA, a CAR president’s adviser, insists that the uprising this weekend will not affect CAR. He said, “These events don’t leave us hot or cold because we have an agreement for defense with the Russian Federation.” He said that even if Wagner was disbanded “Russia would send us something”, meaning troops and weapons.

In a Monday audio release posted on his Telegram account, Prigozhin stated that his intention was to not overthrow government. He also said that Wagner has always performed “a large number of tasks for the Russian Federation’s interests” in Africa and Arab countries.

In an interview with RT, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that CAR and Mali asked Wagner to “ensure their safety after the withdrawal of French forces” He stated that Russian instructors would continue to work in both countries.

A spokesperson from Concord Group, a St. Petersburg based company controlled by Prigozhin declined to answer questions regarding the presence of the group in CAR and refused to conduct an interview with Wagner’s leader.

According to analysts and diplomats in the country, Wagner and Russia have built this presence through capturing CAR’s state institutions and pushing aside France as an ex-colonial force. Wagner forces are leading the army in patrols to combat a rebel movement that has plagued government for more than a decade. In the middle of the jungle, in a country larger than Ukraine’s, the soldiers are responsible for running checkpoints to control the movement of UN personnel and foreign NGOs. The soldiers also serve as personal guards for CAR’s top officials. Western diplomats avoid attending events with the President to avoid being photographed next to a Wagner soldier.

Alain Heraibi is the head of Castel operations in Bangui. He said that when the CAR prime minister visited the Castel brewery the next morning to inspect the fire, he had six Wagner fighters with him as part of his security detail. Heraibi says that the brewery managers were so scared they let the Russians into the building, even though they believed the Russians to be part of the group responsible for the attack. When Touadera went to inspect the French Embassy in early 2021 after a fire, he was accompanied by a Wagner mercenary retinue, who French officials believed had started the fire. Wagner’s operatives receive protection in exchange for their freedom to do business. Tax breaks give them the freedom to import equipment worth millions of dollars duty-free. Four people with knowledge of the situation say that Wagner has a customs agreement which allows him to control the flow of goods into and out of Cameroon. He also gets a share of the proceeds. Wagner forces use a runway dedicated to them at Bangui airport, where open-source flight trackers have spotted Russian aircraft linked to Prigozhin.

Rodrigue Mayte is a prominent Central African political commentator living in Paris. She said that the president was giving up everything to the Russians to preserve, secure and conserve his power. Patrick Bida Kouyagbele is a senior advisor to Touadera and said, “The country has been occupied.” He said that Russia was more efficient and generous. He said that Russia had donated several fighter jets, 14 helicopters as well as AK47 rifles to the government.

Five years of Western sanction against dozens shell companies and individuals affiliated with Wagner has done little to stop the group’s growth in Africa. The West has been playing whack-amole with Wagner since the US, EU, or UK imposed sanctions against one Wagner company. Russia is already part of the fabric in CAR. Wagner sponsors beauty pageants and radio stations, while the Russian Cultural Center hosts language classes. The Russian Church paid for a new look to the local orthodoxy church. Kouyagbele said that Russian companies are also producing fruit juices and have invested in the 200,000-hectare project for tropical wheat. In 2021, thousands Central Africans attended the premiere of Touriste in Bangui, an action film that Wagner-affiliated firms filmed in the CAR in order to glorify their exploits.

Wagner’s fighters stand out amongst the 18,000 UN troops in the country. They are everywhere in Bangui. Clad in unmarked dirty military fatigues with a bandana covering their noses and mouths, these mercenaries can be seen in Bangui. This low-lying city is nestled along the northern bank of the Ubangi River, across from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. You’ll often see mercenaries buying groceries, drinking in bars or bargaining for goods on the side of the street. The roadside stalls sell Wa Na Wa vodka and Africa Ti L’Or’s Wa Na Wa beer, both of which are sold in the plastic sachets that are usually used to store ketchup.

The Ndassima Gold Mine, located in thick forest 260 miles north of Bangui and operated on a small scale by hand until two years ago. Wagner’s operatives have turned it into an industrial complex using heavy machinery.

Satellite images of the mine run by Wagner’s company show the rapid expansion in the last two years. According to four mining experts familiar with the site who examined images provided by Maxar Technologies, the images reveal that Ndassima is capable of producing approximately 150,000 ounces (4 tonnes) worth around $290 million in gold per year. Helene Helbig de Balzac is an analyst who specializes in mining and trafficking in high-risk and conflict-affected areas. She estimates that the amount of gold in this mine would be around 150,000 ounces.

Satellite images taken on May 8 show a cluster of dump trucks scattered about the site, near what appear to be 12 buildings. These are likely offices or housing for workers. A Russian-made combat vehicle, similar to the type used by Russia in Libya and Syria – where Wagner was also deployed in recent times – as well as a Soviet designed military helicopter are also on display.

The trees have been cut down to create ochre-colored roads that snake through the forest to connect the Katsia open pits and French Camp to the refining site. Two rock crushing and grinding circuits have been installed by mining engineers. They are connected by conveyors powered with half a dozen diesel engines. Nearby, a third larger circuit will be built. According to mining experts, the site is dotted with a dozen tanks that are used to leach gold from ore.

The mining experts say that satellite images make it impossible to determine the exact amount of gold that could be produced. This gold would have to be refined to remove any traces of copper, silver and other metals.

The output estimate is approximately what Axmin Inc., a Canadian mining company, planned to produce in 2006 when they began developing the site. In 2019, the CAR government cancelled the Canadian company’s licenses and the following year handed them to Madagascar-registered MIDAS Ressources, which works closely with CAR-based Lobaye Invest SARLU, which is controlled by Wagner, according to the US Treasury. The Treasury Department sanctioned midas on Tuesday for its links to Wagner. Axmin said that it hired a law office to try to recover damages from the loss of license via international arbitration, after it failed to reach an agreement through mediation earlier this summer.

Hans Merket is a researcher at the International Peace Information Service in Belgium, which tracks trade in arms and natural resources throughout sub-Saharan Africa. He said that images from the operation were in line with Axmin’s original vision.

He said, “They appear to be building something of the same scale as what was studied then.” “They are definitely not there yet,” said he, adding that the company had only mined one open pit.

A new bridge has been built over the Baidou River just south of the mine site. The Canadian company had used a barge to transport equipment into the area before the CAR government forced them out. The size of the bridge may have limited the equipment that Russian mining engineers could bring to the remote site. This would explain why the two smaller crushing and milling stations were built rather than a larger one.

The US Treasury imposed sanctions against Lobaye Invest in September 2020 for being under Prigozhin’s control. The Sentry , a nonprofit investigative organization, reported on June 27, , that Wagner mercenaries were responsible for murders and rapes in the region. The data also revealed that Wagner-linked firms were shipping equipment to Cameroon.

Gouandjika (CAR’s presidential advisor) denied that Russians were present at Ndassima. He said that the mine is operated by Chinese and South African investors. He denied Wagner’s abuses. “Russian soldiers, who are known as Wagner in our country, are never offensive. “They don’t attack,” said he. There is a group of Russians there who may or may not be Wagner, but who hold mining concessions.

Sapele is a precious hardwood that is used for furniture, musical instruments, and more in the West.

According to documents obtained first by All Eyes on Wagner, and seen by Bloomberg, in February 2021, shortly after Wagner forces had taken control of the region, a Bois Rouge SARLU company received licenses from CAR to log up to 186,000 hectares.

According to data provided by ImportGenius, the Free Russia Foundation and ImportGenius, Bois Rouge received a steady flow of supplies over the past two-year period from a St. Petersburg based company that has ties with Prigozhin. CBS News and AEOW reported that in December, Bois Rouge changed their name to Wood International Group SARLU. The company still resides at the same address, and has the same permits.

Maxar’s satellite images taken in March show that the nexus for this new business line is located just north of a forest concession owned by the group. A 27-acre parcel of land has been converted into a large lumber yard. Two people with knowledge of the situation say that Wagner controls the facility. The site is surrounded by a berm of earth and stacked wood planks. Two larger and five smaller buildings are located at the northern end of the site. Satellite images reveal a large timber-processing operation, with 5,000 cubic meters worth $1.2 million and more on the European markets, according to the two experts in the timber industry who examined the satellite images. Benoit Jobbe Duval, Director General of the Association Technique Internationale des Bois Tropicaux (which advocates for sustainable logging), says that how much Wagner will make depends on the efficiency with which the group processes the logs.

Jobbe-Duval stated that if the company operated on a two- to three-month cycle it could produce about 5 million euros ($5.4million) of cut wood annually. Jobbe-Duval noted that transporting logs would be expensive.

The wood is exported from CAR by Wagner companies to Douala, Cameroon, for further shipment to Denmark, France and Pakistan. According to data provided by Earthsight (an NGO who has investigated Wagner’s business), Bois Rouge and Wood International have exported $270,000 worth of wood since April 2022 from the port of Doula, Cameroon.

People familiar with the business said that before sending the wood to Cameroon Wagner takes it to Bangui to collect the shipping paperwork. During a recent trip to Bangui, a reporter saw white men dressed in military uniforms driving cut wood into Bangui. The Russian Cultural Center also had timber trucks parked in front of it.

There are also piles of wood at Camp Kassai. This was for many years the heart of an international training mission supported by France and the European Union, where dozens of CAR units were trained and equipped with equipment.

The UN renovated Camp Kassai in 2020 and created bathrooms and dormitories for female soldiers. They then handed it over the CAR army. French diplomats started seeing Wagner mercenaries drive into the camp within months. Two Western officials, who visited the camp in recent months, said that Wagner occupies almost all of it today.

The fate of Wagner’s operation in CAR is unknown, as Putin has stated that Wagner fighters must go to Belarus to sign contracts with Defense Ministry, or return home. Experts say that the group will not disband overnight, and its African operations may survive in some form.

Enrica Picco is the Central Africa Project Director for the International Crisis Group. She said, “Russia has created a powerful business machine as well as a tool to influence Africa with Wagner.” “The system won’t fail, even if Russia is going through internal turmoil.” The Kremlin won’t let the system fall apart — it is too important to them.”