Volume 1 - Iraq Watch

Materials, Equipment and Services Provided byBelarusBelarus exported a range of military goods to Iraq.This illicit trade was organized and executed by anumber of Belarusian companies. Captured documentsreveal that in December 2002, Balmorals VenturesLtd. implemented contract 148/2002 with theAl-Kindi General Company to deliver electronic componentsto the value of $70,367. This price includedthe cost of delivery to Syria and onward shipment toBaghdad. The goods could have been components fora radar jamming system.Viktor Shevtsov was the director of Infobank and ofanother Belarusian company involved in illicit tradewith Iraq named BelarusianMetalEnergo (BME).Infobank helped finance deals with Iraq and, accordingto Huwaysh, may have been run by Belarusianintelligence. BME was involved in supplying castingsand machinery for T-72 tanks, and modernizing SA-2air defense missiles and associated radar systems.BME had many multimillion dollar contracts withIraq and worked closely with Infobank to financeillicit trade. Shevtsov organized, at his own personalexpense, trips on-board Belarusian airlines fromMinsk to Baghdad. These flights transported expertsand directors of Belarusian companies connectedto Iraq as well as technical and military equipmentdestined for Iraqi ministries.A high-level MIC official stated that EGC signed contractswith the Iraqi Al-Karamah State Establishmentto build a facility for the manufacturing and testing ofcontrol and guidance systems for surface-to-surfacemissiles such as al-Samud. This trade also includedthe sale of gyroscopes and accelerometer testingstages. In addition, ECG signed contracts with the Al-Batani State Company for the technology transfer ofmanufacturing systems for an Iraqi satellite researchproject.A former Iraqi official revealed that President AleksandrLukashenko as a vehicle for illicit trade withIraq promoted a joint Belarusian-Iraqi company.Lukashenko was anxious that illicit trade shouldcontinue on a regular basis and requested that a firmcalled Belarus Afta be established in Baghdad as aclearinghouse for illicit military trade.• Radar technology and air defense were the mostcrucial export commodities to Iraq from Belarus.Captured documents and a mid-level Iraqi militaryofficer with direct access to the information affirmthat there was joint Belarus-Iraqi development ofan improved P-18 (Mod Spoon Rest) early warningradar between November 2000 and March 2003.This radar was employed at Al-Habbaniyah AirDefense Center against Coalition aircraft duringOIF.Regime Financeand ProcurementAlexander Degtyarev was also a major player inthe illicit trade business with Iraq. Degtyarev was aRussian scientist whose specialty was missile guidanceand control. Shevtsov introduced Degtyarevto the Iraqi MIC. Degtyarev owned the Belarusiancompanies named Systemtech and ElectricGazCom(EGC), which had contracts with Infobank and Iraq tosupply radars plus control and guidance systems forSA-2 missiles. The latter equipment was transportedthrough Syria and paid for through Syrian bankinginstitutions. Degtyarev was a regular visitor to Iraq,traveling there every two weeks according to a highlevelMIC official and a mid-level former Iraqi civilservant with direct access to the information.• Systemtech provided assistance in the fields ofresearch, testing, and project implementation. DrRaskovka was the senior Systemtech official helpingthe Iraqis, visiting Iraq every 3 to 4 months for3 years. The Iraqis wanted to purchase an S-300 airdefense system. Contracts were signed and trainingundertaken, but the pure logistic problems of supplyingthe system without alerting the internationalcommunity were insurmountable.Other interviewees revealed that Belarus providednumerous supplies of illicit goods to Iraq. Theseincluded equipment for T-72 and T-55 tanks; Volga,Pechora (SA-3) and other air defense missile systems;127