Sanctioned by the UK:- Wagner Group linked DIAMVILLE & WOOD INTERNATIONAL GROUP SARLU

Diamville and Wood International Group Sarlu have been designated under the Central African Republic (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (the UK regulations). These regulations were made under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018

LEARN THE BACKGROUND TO THESE COMPANIES

• Diamville SAU is a diamond and gold trading company in Central Africa. It is affiliated with the Russian private military company, Wagner Group. The company was founded in 2019.
• The official registered owner of the company is Central African Bienvenu Patrick Setem Bonguende, who works as a driver for Dimitri Sytyi, a senior executive at the Wagner Group.
• However, according to a joint investigation and report from European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), the French organisation All Eyes on Wagner, and the UK-based Dossier Centre, Diamville is a shell company owned by the Russian militia Wagner Group.
• In February 2023, Diamville became the subject of a set of economic sanctions imposed by the European Council against various people and organisations affiliated with the Wagner Group.
• The company had sanctions imposed by the United States in July 2023.
• Diamville operates in the Central African Republic (CAR) under the umbrella of Russia’s Africa Corps, the mercenary group formerly known as the Wagner Group. Diamond mining is part of Russia’s strategy to extract valuable resources from African countries, often in exchange for providing military aid through Africa Corps.
• https://adf-magazine.com/2024/01/russian-diamond-mining-brings-violence-and-environmental-degradation-to-the-car/

Bois Rouge (NOW:- Wood International Group Sarlu)

A new report comes back on a previous investigation on Bois Rouge (NOW:- Wood International Group Sarlu) conducted with EIC Network in July 2022.

• Wood for Mercenaries: on the road to international markets
• https://alleyesonwagner.org/2023/05/16/wood-for-mercenaries-on-the-road-to-international-markets/

Key findings in the report include:

1. Bois Rouge Sarlu has changed its name to Wood International Group Sarlu (WIG). Its team changed with a new Central African director and a new Russian commercial director.
2. To evade scrutiny, Bois Rouge/WIG is using an opaque logistics system relying on drivers and logistics companies to transport its wood to Cameroon. It also uses CAR Kassai camp, a military base.
3. Bois Rouge/WIG keeps benefiting from a very advantageous commercial agreement with the CAR government: fiscal and financial advantages, complete control over the plot and its access. There is no environmental and community management plan in place. Aka, pygmies are leaving the area due to the continuous industrial activities.
4. A more precise valuation of Bois Rouge/WIG revenue potential could help Wagner earn around 2 million euros annually over 30 years.
5. Artem Tolmachev, the initial commercial director, has been employed by two well-known Prigozhin affiliated companies: Service K LLC (like for Diamville) and Ferrum Mining LLC, a shareholder in a mining project in Madagascar now left abandoned. Bois Rouge/WIG is, therefore, fully affiliated with Prigozhin.
6. Service K LLC is an important structure within Prigozhin’s empire which overviews all human resources aspects and staffing, especially to international operations.
7. Cameroon has become the logistics platform for the Wagner Group with IGL, a transporter based in Douala and where business and export are made.
8. European and International companies have fell prey to Wagner commercial activities with equipment supplied to Midas Ressources Sarlu, Wagner’s gold mine, and European/International customers buying wood from Bois Rouge/WIG.
9. Wagner could buy for 936 675,05 euros of equipment from a European company and have sold so far wood with a custom registered value of 322 793,56 euros between 2022 and 2023 to European and International customers.
10. Businesses and the logistics sector must be briefed on Wagner’s commercial operations and tactics to conceal their ultimate beneficiary.
11. This investigation was done with discussion and support from CBS News.
1. Watch their report. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-wagner-group-ukraine-war-putin-prigozhin-africa-plundering-resources/
12. Download the report in English https://drive.google.com/file/d/1apso2lPJl1mXxyqL8P1wU5Ncnn6iwvpF/view

HM Treasury Notice, Central African Republic

Financial sanctions, Central African Republic

• DIAMVILLE (Group ID: 16505) https://eic.network/projects/diamville.html
• WOOD INTERNATIONAL GROUP SARLU (Group ID: 16512)

https://url.jer.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/uj3eCgLEJ4fmm47IoO1CC?domain=gov.uk

The Central African Republic is currently subject to UK financial sanctions.

Change made: HM Treasury Notice, Central African Republic, 13/06/2024 added.Time updated: 11:54am, 13 June 2024

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/666ace112f424458f904f315/Notice_Central_African_Republic_130624.pdf