In CAR (the Central African Republic) Russian mercenaries appear to have gone into the blood diamond business. Since 2018 Russia has acknowledged it has military trainers and mercenaries in the CAR. The Russian mercenary Wagner Group operates in the country.
A private security company associated with Wagner, Sewa Security Services, is also in the CAR. There is evidence that Sewa Security Services is linked to two companies suspected of exploiting gold and diamond mines in the CAR. Investigators assert that one of the companies, Diamville, is an “alias for Wagner ” in the CAR.
Midas Resources, another company believed to be affiliated with Wagner’s founder and leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has a 25 year-long concession on the CAR’s Ndissima gold mine. The concession was awarded after the CAR government expropriated the mining concession from a Canadian firm.
The report also alleges Russian mercenaries have looted gold and diamond mines, engaged in smuggling operations and are also involved in illegal sales of “conflict minerals” (in this case gold and diamonds). Further investigations traced some of the diamonds to a firm in the UAE, which sold the diamonds and took a commission for that.
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