Belarusian Company Uses Ukrainian Occupation Material for EU Sales
A company called Agroproduct in Belarus is producing rapeseed oil using materials from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast. This oil is then being sold to the European Union.
An investigation by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty found that despite a ban on Belarusian food imports, including rapeseed oil, one of the main places Agroproduct sells its product is in Lithuania. In 2023, Belarus imported almost 5,000 tons of rapeseed from occupied Kherson. Five companies, including Agroproduct, received these shipments.
The EU bought over 90,000 tons of rapeseed oil from Belarus in the first half of 2024, worth around €67 million. Latvia and Lithuania are two main buyers. The opposition group “Community of Railway Workers of Belarus” claims that about 50,000 tons of rapeseed oil exported to these countries last year came solely from Agroproduct.
Agroproduct has not been punished by the EU or Ukraine. This means it can sell oil to the EU and buy rapeseed from European and Ukrainian farmers.
Logistics firms in Latvia and Lithuania confirmed they worked with Agroproduct, showing a link between the company and the illicit trade. Investigators also found connections between Agroproduct and the Belarusian government.
The director of Agroproduct, Oleg Teslyuk, has said he knows people in the government but wouldn’t say if the rapeseed used was from occupied Ukrainian territories.
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