DISINFO: Prigozhin has no business projects in Libya
SUMMARY
Saint-Petersburg businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin emphasised that he does not have business projects in Libya, as the EU claims.
RESPONSE
According to the EU's Official Journal, Prigozhin was recently subject to an asset freeze and travel ban. It said he “is engaged in and providing support for the Wagner Group’s activities in Libya, which threaten the country’s peace, stability, and security.” The Wagner Group is a GRU-connected Russian military contractor force active in Libya, Syria, Africa and Eastern Ukraine. Wagner first surfaced during the Russian annexation of Crimea, assisting unidentifiable Russian military units, known as “little green men”. Prigozhin’s Evro Polis firm signed a contract with the Syrian state-owned General Petroleum Corporation around January 2018, granting Evro Polis 25% of the output from any petroleum facilities retaken for Assad. Wagner’s risky assault on the Deir ez-Zor Conoco outpost occurred a mere month after the Evro Polis deal, and phone calls intercepted by U.S. intelligence reveal Prigozhin participated directly in planning the attack. U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has clear evidence that the Russian employed, state-sponsored Wagner Group laid landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in and around Tripoli, further violating the United Nations arms embargo and endangering the lives of innocent Libyans. Russia has stepped up its logistic support for private military contractor Wagner Group in Libya with some 338 military cargo flights from Syria in the nine months to July 31 to aid Wagner fighters backing eastern-based Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar, according to a U.N. report seen by Reuters. Further evidence is the arrest of two Prigozhin controlled companies in Libya over an attempt of election meddling (they were supporting Muamar Kaddafi's son). In addition, the Project reports, that according to correspondence of the emissaries of Yevgeny Prigozhin, there is a Russian military contingent headed by the deputy commander of the Airborne Forces Andrei Kholzakov in Libya.