The BIC discovered a link between Viktar Sheiman’s associates and individuals involved in the kidnapping of Belarusian opposition figure Anatol Kotau. The new Belarusian special exporter, HrandSpiecTrejdynh, which is connected to a former subordinate of Sheiman, is registered in the BTS Global building. The owner and the company itself are linked to those involved in the operation to kidnap Kotau and to the yacht used to transport him out of Türkiye.
Arms dealers under one roof
According to documents obtained by the BIC, the building at 52A Smalenskaya Street in Minsk, the registered location of the new Belarusian special exporter HrandSpiecTrejdynh, belongs to BTS Global. Both companies have appeared in previous BIC investigations. HrandSpiecTrejdynh is connected to Viktar Sheiman’s associates, while BTS Global is part of the network of people involved in the kidnapping of Belarusian politician Anatol Kotau. These new documents connect the two lines of investigation for the first time.
In June 2026, the BIC reported on the individuals and businesses associated with Kotau’s disappearance. In August 2025, he flew from Poland to Türkiye, where he boarded the Shells yacht in Trabzon Port. The ship made its way to the coast of Abkhazia, where Russian FSB border guards boarded it and took Kotau away. His whereabouts have been unknown since then. Most of the participants on that trip were connected to a network centered on Yury Serykh, a veteran of the Belarusian security services and arms dealer. This network includes BTS Global and former employees of the KGB and Operational and Analytical Center under the President of the Republic of Belarus.
This story has everything: arms dealers and security services, love and money, a luxury yacht and a route through several countries.
BIC also reported on HrandSpiecTrejdynh, which is now registered in a building owned by BTS Global. The company was founded in November 2025. Three months later, on February 16, 2026, it received special exporter status. This status allows the company to work, among other things, with military-purpose products. HrandSpiecTrejdynh became the fourth active organization in Belarus with this status.
BIC determined that Aliaksandr Yurachkin, who is associated with Viktar Sheiman’s entourage, was involved in the company’s registration. During his conversation with a BIC journalist, Yurachkin suggested that Uladzimir Skulavets is the best person to discuss cooperation with HrandSpiecTrejdynh. Both had ties to the Presidential Property Management Directorate during the period when it was headed by Viktar Sheiman.
Yurachkin worked at the Belarustorg Business Management Company from 2011 until at least 2024. From 2021, he also worked at Vector Capital Group, which is considered part of Sheiman’s business empire.
Skulavets served in the General Staff of the Armed Forces and worked at Belspetsvneshtechnika. From 2020 to 2022, he was an assistant to the head of the Presidential Property Management Directorate. He worked in this position directly under Sheiman for about a year and a half. Later, Skulavets also moved to Vector Capital Group.
...and why another arms-trading organization may have emerged in Belarus.
A third connection
The building at 52A Smalenskaya Street also has another connection to figures featured in BIC’s previous investigations. Car repair shops used to be located on this property. Judging by archival photos, the building had fallen into disrepair by 2019. BTS Global acquired it from Nord Group, a Cyprus-registered company, in 2020. Photos from 2023 show that the brick building was renovated and the surrounding area was landscaped.
Nord Group has also previously been involved in deals with a company known as an arms exporter. It has been linked to people featured in an investigation into the disappearance of Anatol Kotau. In 2014, Belarusian arms exporter Beltechexport proposed that Iraq's Ministry of Defense make payments to Nord Group, which Beltechexport identified as its authorized financial agent.
Vitali Biryn and Vitaliy Kugan both worked at the Belarusian representative office of the Nord Group. Birin knew both Kotau and Yury Serykh. In 2015, he accompanied Kotau and Serykh’s wife on a trip to Lithuania, and later attended a child’s baptism ceremony together with Serykh. Kugan, in turn, received money from Russian citizen Yuriy Golovanov, one of the participants in Kotau’s trip aboard the Shells yacht. From 2015 to 2016, Golovanov transferred between $600 and $1,000 to him at least once every two months. BIC journalists called BTS Global and HrandSpiecTrejdynh. When the company managers found out who they were talking to, they said, “Goodbye.” At the time of publication, written inquiries had not been answered.
