Bayer Company Representatives Arrested in Belarus

According to the investigation, the heads of foreign companies "Bayer" and "Bayer JSC," with the assistance of other individuals, were engaged in selling agrochemical plant protection products and pharmaceutical products in Belarus from January 2020 to March 2026 without registering a permanent representative office for the company. This, as investigators assert, violated legal requirements.

To conceal such activities, the defendants established "Bayer VR LLC" and several representative offices of foreign companies. The Investigative Committee claims that they failed to account for the fact that the received incomes were subject to taxation and evaded paying taxes totaling more than 50 million rubles. During the period under investigation, more than 1.35 billion rubles were transferred from Belarusian accounts to the Bayer group of companies.

Ten people have been detained in connection with the criminal case, including citizens of Belarus and Russia. Seven of them have been taken into custody. Their actions were qualified under Article 243 of the Criminal Code of Belarus — tax evasion. The defendants, it is claimed, are cooperating with the investigation and giving confessional testimonies, including regarding the management of the foreign company.

Investigators report that during initial investigative actions, evidence was obtained implicating all suspects in the crimes. Searches were conducted, and documents were seized, which, according to the department, confirm the illegal activities. Among them are shadow accounts, specifications, contracts, applications, supply data, and summary files.

To compensate for possible damages, law enforcement officers seized the company's real estate and vehicles, its accounts and the accounts of foreign representative offices, as well as the property of the suspects. The total value of the seized property is no less than 8 million rubles.

The German concern Bayer is one of the world's largest international companies in healthcare and agriculture, founded in 1863. Bayer has been operating in Belarus since 2000 (a local office for Bayer LLC was opened in 2014), supplying the country with pharmaceuticals, vitamins, as well as seeds and plant protection products for the agro-industrial complex.

After 2022, the concern suspended investments and advertising in the region but continued to supply critically important medicines and agricultural products.

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