After Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death, Russian authorities took control of the Wagner Group and created the Defense Ministry’s Africa Corps, which was supposed to take command of Wagner’s mercenaries in Africa. But Prigozhin’s son Pavel managed to retain control of Wagner fighters in the Central African Republic (CAR) and expand his father’s business, The Wall Street Journal reported.
CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra helped him by asking the Kremlin not to replace Wagner fighters with Russian Defense Ministry troops, the newspaper reported. Touadéra integrated Prigozhin’s mercenaries into the country’s police, army, and intelligence units.
About 500 Wagner fighters are based in the capital, Bangui. They guard the president, fight rebels, and make money from gold mining and trafficking in drugs and weapons, the Journal reported.
The younger Prigozhin controls the CAR’s largest gold deposit, which generates $250 million a year. Local authorities help ship the gold abroad by labeling it as government property. Over the past three months, shipments have gone through Belarus, according to the newspaper.
Prigozhin also controls a substantial share of the local tramadol market and sells weapons to rebel groups in Sudan and Libya. Wagner also produces vodka and beer in the CAR.
In total, the Prigozhin family earns more than $400 million a year, according to an estimate by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
Experts who spoke to the Journal believe an agreement with the Kremlin may have helped the younger Prigozhin strengthen his position in the CAR. The Wagner Group also owns radio stations in the country that broadcast anti-Western propaganda, glorify Touadéra, and praise Russia, the newspaper reported.
Pavel Prigozhin lives in St. Petersburg but regularly visits Bangui, according to the Journal. During these visits, he stays at the Ledger Plaza hotel, which has effectively become Wagner’s headquarters in the CAR. Fighters armed with assault rifles guard the hotel grounds, and even senior government officials go through security checks to meet him.
Pavel was 25 when his father died in August 2023. He inherited his father’s entire estate, valued at 12 billion rubles.
The elder Prigozhin was also survived by his wife, two daughters, and mother. Under the will, Pavel was required to provide them with a “decent standard of living.” The news outlet Port, citing an unnamed source, claimed that Pavel’s unwillingness to share the inheritance had caused a family dispute.
From Meduza’s archives
- A year after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death, Russia’s influence campaign in Africa continues apace — but it may have new competition
- ‘He considered himself indestructible’ Meduza spoke to Wagner mercenaries about the plane crash that killed Yevgeny Prigozhin
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