MAZ uses China, North Korea to circumvent sanctions – OSINT

February 6, Pozirk. Belarusian manufacturers operate an extensive network of front companies to circumvent Western sanctions and obtain components from China and North Korea, defence24.pl reports, citing security experts and analysts from the Dallas OSINT group.

The Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ), Belarus’ leading manufacturer of trucks, including launch vehicles for intercontinental ballistic missiles, is a part of sanction evasion scheme that links some of the world’s most heavily sanctioned regimes, the report said.

Following the introduction of Western sanctions, MAZ stepped up its integration with the Russian defense sector, part of a broader trend in which more than 80 percent of Belarusian companies are now fulfilling orders linked to Russian military production, according to Ukrainian intelligence.

MAZ and other Belarusian plants have established a system for purchasing sanctioned components through Chinese intermediaries to conceal their true military purpose, the analysts noted. They identified Alaksiej Adamovič as one of the key figures in the scheme.

Adamovič is a long-time MAZ employee who now serves as commercial director of the Michanavičy Logistics Center, which the analysts believe is a front company used to purchase MAZ production lines and shield the sanctioned plant from direct exposure to supplier networks.

Since 2023, Adamovič reportedly connected Russian military manufacturers to Asian suppliers with the Ural Automotive Plant (UralAZ), manufacturing military trucks for the Russian armed forces since 1944, among his major clients.

Adamovič is also alleged to have ordered large batches of components from North Korea’s Chosun Kyonghun 1, including precision steering systems, electronic control modules, drive shafts and exhaust system parts.

The cooperation is ongoing rather than isolated and violates UN Security Council Resolutions 2375 and 2397 banning commercial ties with North Korean state structures, the analysts stressed.

In February 2022, Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine in which the Belarusian authorities supported the Kremlin, allowing Russian troops to attack Ukraine from Belarus on multiple occasions and supplying arms to Moscow.

Economy Security

Economy, Security

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