The information is reported by Politico, citing diplomatic documents and sources.
Sources say that US officials have warned for years that Wagner PMC has been using mining money to support Russia under Western sanctions. Wagner PMC’s latest projects in the CAR are becoming increasingly profitable and create a channel for financing Russia's war against Ukraine.
According to the documents, Wagner PMC has significantly expanded mining in the CAR over the past year alone and can earn up to a billion dollars. The money is likely to be used to buy new weapons and hire people.
Thus, in 2018, they built a production complex at the Ndassima gold deposit, located near the city of Bambari in the heart of the country. Since then, 8 production zones have been opened in the complex, with the largest one being 200 feet (approximately 61 meters) deep.
In addition, US officials note that Wagner PMC is preparing the facility for long-term operation, including fortifying the mine, building bridges and installing anti-aircraft guns on trucks. The Wagner Group operates the gold mine as a company registered in Madagascar.
American officials believe that Wagner has political influence in the Central African Republic. This may be evidenced by the fact that the CAR does not allow UN peacekeepers to launch drones.
Wagner PMC was founded in 2014 and operated in a number of countries where Russia has interests, including Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, and Ukraine. They committed, among other things, war crimes and crimes against humanity. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Wagner mercenaries took part in massacres of civilians. The PMC is currently recruiting convicts from Russian prisons. Prigozhin also recruits mercenaries in Africa for the war in Ukraine.
For a long time, Prigozhin denied any connection to Wagner PMC, but recently confirmed the existence of this group. The oligarch, who is under Western sanctions, is considered a supporter of Russia’s war against Ukraine, a close ally of Putin.
In January 2023, Russia legalized Wagner PMC, despite the ban on the activities of paramilitary mercenaries. The Wagner Center PMC Joint Stock Company is registered in the Russian register in the building of the business center of the same name, built by Yevgeny Prigozhin in St. Petersburg - until now, no legal entity with Wagner PMC in its name has existed in Russia.