A company associated with “Putin’s chef” Yevgeny Prigozhin received a logging permit in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2021 and 186,000 hectares of forest for exploitation. This was found out by the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) media network and the French NGO OpenFacto.
In February 2021, a previously unknown company, Bois Rouge, won a government tender for a concession in the Lobaye forest in the southwest of the CAR. This comes two weeks after the CAR military, backed by Wagner PMCs, captured Bodu, the main town of Lobae Prefecture, where the forest is located. Bois Rouge's now-defunct website stated that it was "one of Africa's largest logging" companies. It was registered in March 2019 and is headed by CAR citizen Anastasia Nanet Yakoima.
The waybills for equipment intended for Bois Rouge indicate that the company received it from the St. Petersburg company Broker Expert. It also supplies goods to Prigozhin's organizations, such as Sudan-based mining company Meroe Gold. The US Treasury calls it a subsidiary of the Prigozhin group.
Broker Expert's connection with Prigozhin is also confirmed by the fact that the company used the same phone number as his family's companies, Lyubov's wife's Soinvest and Prigozhin's own Concorde. In November and December 2021 alone, Broker Expert delivered a tractor, building materials, barbed wire, a fan and an industrial vacuum cleaner to Bois Rouge.
In addition, EIC and OpenFacto have access to photographs from the Bois Rouge site. They show Russian equipment, people in uniform like Wagner PMCs, and a sign of the first-aid post in Russian. Bois Rouge was also represented as a Russian participant at one of the international forums.
The EIC and OpenFacto have received official previously classified documents governing the activities of Bois Rouge. While other logging companies may only use part of their concession, Bois Rouge has been given permission to operate the entire area. In addition, the agreement with the company states that the areas where logging is allowed are valid for three years, and logging can only be resumed at the request of Bois Rouge. At the same time, according to ordinary contracts, “cutting areas” are changed every year so that the forest can recover.
Bois Rouge was also given exemptions for customs duties on imports, the company was exempted from corporate tax for 5 years, after which it will be reduced to 25% for another year. In addition, Bois Rouge was exempted from property tax for 8 years, for her social development contribution was reduced by 25% and exempted from paying a business license for five years. The company also did not pay mandatory taxes until at least February 2022.
In order to start working in the CAR, a company must prepare an “operational development plan” and an environmental impact study. Bois Rouge did neither. Another of the clauses of the contract that the company violated is the obligation to pay rent for 3 years in advance. This is given 15 days, after which the license is automatically taken away from the company. In the case of Bois Rouge, this did not happen.
