The popular Belarusian opposition media Nexta on Monday released a film about the wealth of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who the authors claim was obtained through corruption.
Nexta’s popular Telegram channel was not restored for a week, leading to various rumors about the fate of the site’s administrators.
However, a record appeared on the channel on Monday morning that the Nexta team was making a film about Lukashenko’s wealth during this time.
The main thrust of Nexta’s investigation is that Lukashenko has in fact privatized many Belarusian state residences, including the magnificent Independence Palace, as well as using for personal purposes the car and air transport that he deserves as president.
In addition, Lukashenko accepts expensive gifts and provides favor to a number of foreign entrepreneurs for corrupt purposes, the authors of the film point out.
Among other things, the film mentions Russian businessman Mikhail Guceryev.
Lukashenko himself claims that he has no wealth and that almost everything he uses belongs to the state.
“I have a ‘castle.’ I think seven or eight big houses where I grew up with my mother. That’s my ‘castle,'” Lukashenko said last week.
“Tens of millions of dollars” are spent every month to maintain state residences, which Lukashenko has essentially privatized, an informed source told the film’s authors.
Lukashenko also has a collection of premium cars worth four million euros. This amount does not include car service, according to the authors of the film.
By the morning of March 9, the film “Lukashenko. Zolotoje dno” (“Lukashenko. The Golden Back”) has been viewed on YouTube more than a million times.
The Telegram channels Nexta and Nexta Live were created by Stepan Putilo, who currently lives in Warsaw.
When the protest movement took over the country after last summer’s falsified presidential election in Belarus, Nexta became the most popular opposition media.
The audience of the channels has reached two million people.
In August 2020, the Belarusian authorities declared Putilo in an international search.
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