German companies and Belarus: criticism of business with Lukashenko

Not only the port of Duisburg has had close business ties with Belarus since 2018. Germany is an important trading partner for the country. Belarusian activists are calling for greater sensitivity in dealing with human rights violations.

The Great Stone Industrial Park is 25 kilometers from Minsk, at the capital’s airport. Belarus is expanding the special economic zone into a trading hub between East and West. For China, which has invested billions there, the huge high-tech park is the “Pearl of the Silk Road” – a logistics hub that the Asian country uses to open up sales markets in Europe. The park is operated by Chinese companies, the Belarusian state – and, since 2018, the Port of Duisburg, which has a less than one percent stake in the development company.

A lucrative contract for Duisburg developed from the symbolic minority stake. In 2018, Duisport completed a “Logistics Master Plan” for the Belarusian government, which – according to Erich Staake, the head of the port at the time – was received very positively. Since then, Duisport has been planning, together with Chinese companies, the Belarusian railway and the Swiss Hupac AG, a rail connection for the Great Stone industrial park and a logistics terminal. Duisport is the most important shareholder with 40 percent. In April, the head of the Belarusian railways, Vladimir Morozov, and Staake met for a video conversation to discuss the status of the project.

Duisport is considering withdrawing from contracts

“At the time of the investment, the EU and Germany were in a constructive dialogue with Belarus,” said Duisport AG when asked why it was involved in Minsk in 2018. The course of the Silk Road illustrates the importance of the country as a central transit country for train connections between Europe, China and Central Asia. The political circumstances would not have affected the rail traffic on the Silk Road.

In fact, more and more trains are rolling – regardless of all diplomatic resentments. Corona has made train freight even more attractive, as the price for air freight has risen and fewer ships are operating. The Belarusian ambassador to China spoke of 25 percent more containers in 2020 compared to the previous year – even though 2020 was a difficult year for trade.

Possible exit is being examined

“Of course we understand concerns about our involvement in Belarus. Especially in view of the development since the elections in August 2020”, Duisport explains when asked. However, the development was not foreseeable at the time of the engagement.

In May, the Duisburgers saw no reason to react to the events in Belarus. The North Rhine-Westphalian state government, to which two thirds of the port belongs, and the city of Duisburg now specify: “In June the chairman of the supervisory board arranged to examine whether and, if so, how to withdraw from the current contracts for participation in the Great Stone logistics park Belarus can be consummated. The examination is still ongoing. “

The Belarusian opposition repeatedly accuses foreign companies of supporting the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, primarily through trade relations with state-owned companies. For Belarus, Germany is one of the five most important trading partners. Germany ranks third for imports into the country. Germany is the fifth largest customer for exports.

Commercials on state television mostly from western companies

The German-Swiss human rights organization Libereco observed and evaluated the advertising blocks of the three state television channels in Belarus for a week in July. Almost two thirds of the commercials were from Western companies: Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Henkel and Dr. Theiss natural goods. “Directly before and after the so-called news, Western products are advertised. We want EU companies to be prohibited from advertising in Belarusian state media. Because they are directly supporting regime propaganda,” says Marco Fieber from Libereco.

And cases like Duisport? “As a German company – especially if you belong to a federal state and a city – you have a lever to prevent the situation on site from escalating: You can send a catalog of demands that insist that striking or protesting Belarusian employees not fire That workers with white ribbons on their arms are not arrested and convicted, “says Fieber.

“These demands must be signed by the Belarusian business partner. Companies often downplay the fact that they have this opportunity. They tell us: What we do is legal. Our partner is not on a sanctions list. ‘Legal’ is of course true – but it is is morally reprehensible not to point out human rights crimes. “

Vigils and letters to the companies

Belarusian activists in Germany have had similar experiences. When they approached almost forty German companies with vigils and letters, they often received no or only general, evasive answers.

“Cigarette production and smuggling is a lucrative business for the Lukashenko clan. That is their wallet, so to speak,” explains Dimitrij, who works for the Belarusian People’s Embassy, ​​an alternative representation of the Belarusians in the diaspora.

New factories are being built. We wrote to the German tobacco machine manufacturers Körber AG and Hauni Maschinenbau GmbH, who deliver machines to Belarus. We pointed out to the Germans that the KGB secret service was putting pressure on many protesting tobacco workers. That they were exposed to arbitrariness and had to collect stones or mend nets as punishment – we have evidence of this. We told them that Belarus does not have the right to strike and that there are no independent trade unions. That workers are fired for the slightest protest and that pressure is put on their families.

But it is clear from the companies’ responses that they are not really interested in the topic, says Dimitrij. “That is the only reason why business will not be interrupted or reduced – unless the Belarusian partner is on a sanctions list.”

What does the Supply Chain Act change?

Annelen Micus from Amnesty Germany sees a special responsibility of companies when the human rights situation is as serious as in Belarus. The Supply Chain Act, which is supposed to take effect in precisely such cases, will not come into force until 2023. But the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights oblige companies to regularly check whether their activities – both their own business area and the cooperation with suppliers and cooperation partners – are affected by human rights violations. Companies should not help to arrest and persecute employees who are part of the protest movement.

“Even if these are only ‘soft’ guidelines that are not checked by any authority: The human rights due diligence with risk analysis, preventive measures and reparations must be observed even now,” explains the Amnesty expert on business and human rights. “Of course we see: Even if there are specific allegations from activists, organizations and the media and the companies are informed and know what they can do, often nothing happens. In these cases, the new supply chain law will hopefully soon create more awareness and enforcement options.”