Evgeny Prigozhin's son has preserved and is expanding "Wagner's" business in Africa
According to the Wall Street Journal, his family earned more than $400 million a year through the trade of gold, weapons, and drugs.
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s son is maintaining and expanding Wagner's business in Africa
After Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death, the Russian government took the "Wagner" private military company under its control and formed the "Africa Corps" within the structure of the Russian Ministry of Defense. According to the plan, the company’s mercenaries in the African region were supposed to be transferred to this corps.
However, Prigozhin’s son, Pavel, retained control over the Wagner fighters in the Central African Republic (CAR) and is engaged in expanding his father’s business.
According to the publication, he was assisted by CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra. He requested the Kremlin not to replace the Wagner fighters with Russian Ministry of Defense troops and integrated Prigozhin's mercenaries into his country's police, army, and intelligence units.
Currently, about 500 Wagner fighters are deployed in the country's capital, Bangui. They are protecting the president, fighting rebels, and generating revenue from gold mining, drug, and weapons trafficking, the WSJ writes.
Prigozhin Jr. controls the largest gold mine in Central Africa, which generates $250 million a year. The local government designates the mined precious metal as state property and helps export it abroad. Journalists note that over the past three months, the export of gold has been carried out through Belarus.
In addition, Prigozhin controls a large part of the local tramadol market and sells weapons to rebel groups in Sudan and Libya. The Wagner fighters have also set up vodka and beer production in the CAR.
The Prigozhin family earns a total of over $400 million a year, according to the "Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime."
According to experts interviewed by WSJ journalists, Prigozhin Jr. made a kind of deal with the Kremlin to strengthen his position in the Central African Republic. The publication notes that the group also owns radio stations in the Central African Republic, which are used to spread anti-Western propaganda, praise President Touadéra, and extol the Russian government.
Pavel resides in St. Petersburg but regularly travels to Bangui, the WSJ writes. During one such trip, he stayed at the Ledger Plaza hotel, which has effectively become Wagner's headquarters in the Central African Republic. The hotel grounds are guarded by fighters carrying automatic weapons, and high-ranking officials are thoroughly searched before entering for a meeting with Prigozhin.