KYIV. UkraineGate , 13 , June , 2022 | Political News.
Russian sanctions oligarch Dmitry Mazepin in 2020-2021 during protests in Belarus over the resignation of Lukashenko, called on the opposition to create a committee of national salvation .
Moreover, according to Roman Protasevich, the founder of the Belarusian opposition Telegram channel Nexta, Mazepin, who is close to Putin’s circle, for some reason financed the protests . Despite the fact that the Russian oligarch did not agree with this information, there is still no official refutation.
Details
At the end of 2020, the Uralkali public company, after concluding certain agreements , came under the control of Uralkhim Corporation, the majority owner of which until recently was Dmytro Mazepin (after sanctions were imposed on him – Mazepin gave parts of the company to his associates).
At one time, the businessman planned active activities in the direction of “merger” of “Belaruskali” with “Uralkali”, connecting his ties with the Sberbank of Russia (represented by Herman Gref – Chairman of Sberbank of Russia), hoping for a favorable relationship with Lukashenko, who had would help merge the two companies (with headquarters and financing center in Moscow).
However, everything did not go according to plan. Lukashenko did not accept these conditions and the negotiation process came to a standstill. After holding a presidential election in Belarus, which sparked popular outrage and acts of force, Mazepin decided to play on it and called on the opposition to set up the same National Salvation Committee.
According to foreign experts, Mazepin, who was outraged by Lukashenko’s refusal to help merge the Belarusian and Russian companies, decided to help Putin “occupy Belarus” and planned to set up an alleged “opposition” committee in parallel with Protasevich’s funding of Nexta.
Mazepin’s main goal, despite his claims of non-involvement in funding the Belarusian opposition, was to help Putin catch Belarus in the trap to enlist the country’s support in the war with Ukraine, which Putin has been preparing to attack for a long time.
For Mazepin, the “occupation” of Belarus by Russia was probably in his favor, because because of the war in Ukraine, as it turned out, he planned to get a “port plant”, promising Russian President Putin a quick surrender of Odessa.
According to him, it is important for the Russians to take control of the Odessa port plant, because for the Russian company Togliattiazot (which recently almost completely came under Mazepin’s control), the Odessa port plant is the only way to transport the ammonia it produces.
Russia receives up to $ 12 billion a year from ammonia supplies through Ukraine to the West. Nevertheless, Mazepin has repeatedly stated that the transit of ammonia through Ukraine is constantly accompanied by a large number of risks due to Russia’s conflicts with Ukraine.
At the same time, he could not refuse it, because the Russian company has no other ways to transport ammonia.
Source: Ukrgate