The Russians launched an informal airline called Air Wagner. Commercial transport by military helicopters

After mining, forestry, customs collection, coffee production, gold mining and beer brewing, Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group have opened another business in the Central African Republic. Using military helicopters, they offer civilian passengers flights between the capital, Bangui, and other cities.

The inhabitants of this country controlled by Russian mercenaries called this service Air Wagner. According to CNC, a Central African news agency, it is extremely profitable. The Russians use their helicopters intended for military operations, but the fuel is paid for by the government from Bangui, which also covers the costs of maintaining the machines and the entire logistics of the aviation business. Mercenaries, however, bill the passengers and keep all the income for themselves.

No advance reservation is required, but mercenaries do not complain about the lack of passengers – and according to CNC, they are increasing the number of flights every day because demand is growing.

A flight from Bangui to Sam Ouandja, a city near the border with Sudan, approximately 800 km away, costs over $170. Trips to Zemio, located near South Sudan, are more expensive, reaching $230. The Russians are taking advantage of the fact that both cities are difficult to reach by land, because these towns are besieged by insurgents whom the Wagner Group was brought in by President Faustin-Archange Touadera to fight in 2018.

This new activity adds to the long list of economic activities that the Wagner Group has developed in the Central African Republic. It currently controls gold and diamond mines in several regions of the country, which brings it hundreds of millions of dollars in annual income. The mercenaries have built a purchasing and export network that is completely beyond state control. Small miners, if they do not want to die, must sell their output directly to agents appointed by the Russians, who then send the ore abroad, completely bypassing state channels. In this way, most of the gold mined in it leaves the country.

The mercenaries also invested in the export of valuable types of wood, without paying any taxes to the state. And two years ago, they launched a brand of alcoholic beverages called Africa Ti L'or, or “Africa is gold.” This locally produced drink quickly became popular in the capital's bars, forced by the Russians to serve it, and just as quickly it was exposed as an addictive, toxic mixture of vodka, questionable water quality and intoxicating substances such as tramadol.

Tadeusz Brzozowski (PAP)

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