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Romanian businessman Vitalie Buzdugan has quietly built a sprawling network of at least 15 companies in Belarus, deeply intertwining his financial interests with politically connected figures in the inner circle of President Alexander Lukashenko, according to a new investigation by the independent outlet Buro Media.
The article reveals that Buzdugan holds major stakes across a broad swath of the Belarusian economy, including the medical, cultural, construction, technology, tourism, and agricultural sectors.
Many of these enterprises are tied, directly or indirectly, to Alexander Zaytsev, a prominent businessman heavily sanctioned by both the European Union and the United States. The network also links back to Igor Rachkovsky, the former chief of the Belarusian border service and reportedly a longtime friend of Lukashenko’s eldest son, Viktor.
Property records reviewed by journalists indicate that Buzdugan’s wealth extends to prime real estate in Minsk. This includes three apartments on Tikhaya Street, an upscale neighborhood situated near areas favored by the Belarusian elite.
Expansion in the ‘Great Stone’
One of the clearest examples of Buzdugan’s expanding footprint is his aggressive move into the Great Stone Industrial Park, a massive special economic zone that offers lucrative tax breaks and regulatory benefits to its residents.
According to the investigation, Buzdugan’s presence in the park surged following a key personnel shift in 2020. That year, Denis Silchenko—identified by Buro Media as a former employee of several Buzdugan companies and the son-in-law of Rachkovsky—assumed a senior role at the park’s development company.
Today, nine of Buzdugan’s companies are registered within Great Stone, despite the fact that only a few appear to align with the industrial park’s stated high-tech profile.
The Russian Drone Connection
The investigation also sheds light on Plasma Union, a company established in 2023 to manufacture blood plasma medicines.
A letter obtained by Buro Media includes excerpts from the minutes of a December 2023 Health Ministry meeting regarding Plasma Union’s offer to invest $10 million in a manufacturing plant in the Belarusian town of Gantsevichi. Furthermore, the minutes reveal that the company was preparing to construct a second facility inside the Great Stone park. The document explicitly noted that "partners from the Russian Federation" would export the entirety of the plant's output.
Those Russian partners include Alexey Ordzhonikidze, a co-owner of Plasma Union. Buro Media linked him to a prominent Russian family, noting that the investigative outlet IStories previously revealed Ordzhonikidze held a stake in the company that produces the strike drones currently used by the Russian military in its war against Ukraine.
Reached by phone for comment on the investigation, Buzdugan denied any involvement in the businesses and stated he had never engaged in joint projects with Zaytsev. He declined to answer any further questions.
