Belarusian civil servants curse EU but purchase apartments in Bulgaria

Employees of the Belarusian government agencies berate the West, supporting Lukashenka's rhetoric. However, this does not prevent them from vacationing in European countries and buying real estate there. "Belarusian Investigative Center" found out which civil servants and heads of state enterprises have property on the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria.

Among them is Dzmitry Parton, who has been loyal to Aliaksandr Lukashenka for many years, works with the state media and makes unpleasant remarks about the European Union. At the same time, he prefers to rest at the most famous resort in Bulgaria in his own apartment. Also Stanislau Yodzis. He bought an apartment in Europe, the head of the largest alcoholic state holding in Belarus. His official salary was not very high.

Belarusian state officials of lower rank also bought apartments in Bulgaria. Each of them had their own sources of income for this purpose, but it would be challenging to do it solely on their salary. 

Dzmitry Parton

Dmitry Parton started his career in the army media and radio, then headed the Ministry of Internal Affairs press service, studied at the Presidential Management Academy, and went to senior positions in the state media. From 2012 to 2017, he was deputy editor-in-chief of SB. Belarus Today. Then he headed the Directorate of Internet Broadcasting of STV channel. Since 2018, he has been Deputy General Director of the Minsk-Novosti agency.

Dzmitry Parton often criticizes "the adulterated and depraved Western Europe."

"It seems that French policemen, wearing pink scarves, have lost their sense of smell or can no longer understand who is a friend and a stranger in a multimillion emigrant crowd. Was it not clear that all of this European liberalism is a time bomb?" Parton writes.

In 2011, he got a place in the most famous resort in Bulgaria, Sunny Beach. The apartment of 38 square meters cost the media manager about 26 thousand dollars.

 It is 500 meters from the beach, near the pool, sunbathing and recreational area, and restaurant. In May 2022, the deputy director of Minsk-Novosti vacationed with his family in Bulgaria and was photographed with his grandson. 

According to public sources, Parton has been to many European capitals with his house wife over the past 10 years.

According to data from cyber partisans, Parton's official salary in the civil service is about $20,000 a year.

Dzmitry Parton declined to comment on the situation.  

Stanislau Yodzis

Yodzis' career also began in law enforcement: in the late nineties, he worked as a prosecutor in Minsk.

Then he switched to trade. He was the director of Minsk restaurant "Lido" and Kamarouski market, and in 2010 he got a managerial position in the Office of the President. 

A year later, Aliaksandr Lukashenka entrusted him with Minsk Kristall, the largest alcohol-producing company in Belarus.

Yodzis bought his first apartment in Labanok Street in Minsk in 2009 while managing the Kamarouski market. Three years later, the Yodzis family got a two-story house in Staubtsy with a 130-square-meter bathhouse. 

Besides, the head of the alcoholic holding loves cars. He owns a 2014 Land Rover, which costs tens of thousands of dollars. 
 

According to "Cyber Partisan," the average official annual salary of Stanislau Yodzis at  Minsk Kristall was 20,000 USD.

And his then-wife Alena Yodzis worked at a firm sewing and selling workwear and earned on average about $2,500 a year. 

In 2016 - a year after divorcing his wife - Stanislau Yodzis bought an apartment in Bulgaria in the resort of Pomorie. The city on the Black Sea is famous for its therapeutic mud and salt lakes. At the time of purchase, the apartment price in the area chosen by Yodzis started from 29 thousand euros. According to Cyber Partizan, he has flown to Bulgaria almost every year since 2007 - always in July and August - with his then-wife, Alena.

Three years after buying Bulgarian real estate, Stanislau Yodzis was caught up in a scandal. In October 2019, he was removed as head of Minsk Kristall for allegedly failing to keep an eye on his subordinates and allowing corruption at the company.

Three employees of the alcohol plant were detained red-handed. According to investigators, they received about $17,000 in bribes from 2018-2019. The media, citing the KGB, reported that Mr. Barkou, deputy head of the transport department of Minsk Kristall, was accused of taking a bribe for the service of official cars in a commercial company. The chief engineer Zharyn, according to investigators, intended to falsify documents and competitive procedures. In 2020, he was sentenced to six years in prison for this.

Stanislau Yodzis, under whom these schemes were operated, was not charged by the investigation. Moreover, a month after the scandal, Yodzis quietly left for Lithuania and, at the end of 2019, was in Latvia. Cyber Partizan also uncovered that he went to Poland in 2020 and made a total of 10 flights after his dismissal from Minsk Kristall.

According to Stanislau Yodzis, he is "happy" that journalists know everything about his real estate but refused to comment, threatening to go to law enforcement.  

 
Aliaksandr Kadyshau

Aliaksandr Kadyshau began his career at the Interior Ministry. Since 2008, he has worked in the justice system. For about 5 years, he headed the "Center for forensic examinations" and worked for half a year in the private "BIP-Institute of jurisprudence." Since 2016, he has been the general director of the state enterprise "BelYurObespechenie," which is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and organizes auctions for the sale of seized property. According to our source in the Ministry of Justice, bailiffs repeatedly complained about the work of the state enterprise.

According to Cyber Partisan, on average, Kadyshau earned about $20,000 yearly at "BelYurObespechenie."

That's almost six times higher than the salaries of rank-and-file employees, which, according to our source, did not exceed $3,500 a year in 2020. Kadyshau's remarkable success in office could explain the difference in labor valuation, but the facts do not support that. In 2021, for example, "BelYurObespechenie's profits fell by one-half.

In 2017, six months after he started as CEO, Kadyshau bought an apartment on Leanid Biada Street in Minsk with an estimated value of more than $70,000.

Then, as we found out with the help of our colleagues from the Bulgarian investigative center BIRD.BG, he purchased real estate in Bulgaria.

The small apartment is located in a residential community of Sveti Vlas, which attracts tourists with its golden beaches, mountain ranges, warm sea and many bays.

Aliaksandr Kadyshau said that in April 2022, he left his post as head of "BelYurObespechenie" and retired. He bought houses in Minsk and Bulgaria with the money he earned before he joined "BelYurObespechenie."

Kadyshau calls the Bulgarian apartment a "hotel room," which he bought after a study tour. The main motive behind Kadyshau's purchase is the proximity of the sea, where swimming allows the 66-year-old functionary to maintain his health. He is currently considering selling his apartment in what has become virtually inaccessible in Bulgaria. During a conversation with journalists, he stated that he has retired and now intends to go to the sea in Crimea.  

Liudzmila Volvach

Not far from Aliaksandr Kadyshau's apartment, we found another apartment with Belarusian owners. In 2012, the Volvach family bought the apartment of 48 square meters for about $23 thousand.  

The upper floors of this complex have views of the sea and mountains. The top floor has an area with a jacuzzi and sunbeds on the panoramic terrace.
The mother of the family, Liudzmila Volvach, had already been divorced for 9 years at the time of the purchase. She worked in the Hrodna City Executive Committee as head of the accounting, finance and prices department of trade and services.

Maybe it was Liudzmila's ex-husband who helped her buy the apartment. In 2012, the year of purchasing the Bulgarian apartment, he earned $3 thousand in the company "TekhStroyKontrakt. His salary was about the same as in previous years. As a result, journalists received no clear answer as to where Liudzmila Volvach got the money for her apartment in a comfortable complex in Bulgaria. She only said, "when you work in the city executive committee, you can't even afford to buy an apartment there". One way or another, she became the owner of these apartments while in public service.