500 Wagner Fighters, $400M a Year – Prigozhin’s Son Holds On to His African Empire

Pavel Prigozhin has reportedly preserved and expanded the Wagner group’s military presence and business interests in the Central African Republic (CAR).

He is said to have retained control of hundreds of operatives and lucrative mining operations despite Moscow’s efforts to bring the group’s African forces under the Russian defense ministry, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, as cited by Meduza.

Following the death of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash in August 2023, Russian authorities sought to take control of the private military company (PMC) and reorganize its operations in Africa under the defense ministry’s Africa Corps.

However, the transition has been less successful in the CAR than in other African countries, where Africa Corps personnel have taken over from Wagner, according to the WSJ report.

CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra reportedly asked the Kremlin not to replace Wagner fighters with regular Russian military personnel. Instead, the country integrated the mercenaries into its police, army, and intelligence services, allowing them to maintain influence.

Around 500 Wagner operatives are based in the capital, Bangui, where they provide security for Touadéra, fight rebel groups, and pursue commercial interests, including gold mining, the WSJ reported. The group has also been involved in drug and weapons trafficking, according to the publication.

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Pavel Prigozhin has maintained control over the group’s operations and expanded his father’s business interests, with an arrangement with the Kremlin potentially helping him consolidate his position, experts told the WSJ.

Gold mining, other businesses generate hundreds of millions

The younger Prigozhin reportedly controls the CAR’s largest gold mine, which generates an estimated $250 million annually.

According to the WSJ, local authorities help transport gold abroad by declaring it state property. Shipments have reportedly been routed through Belarus over the past three months.

Pavel also controls a substantial share of the local market for tramadol, an opioid painkiller, and supplies weapons to rebel groups in Sudan and Libya, the report says. Wagner has also established local vodka and beer production.

The Prigozhin family earns more than $400 million annually, according to an estimate by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime cited in the report.

The group also controls radio stations in the CAR that broadcast anti-Western messaging, praise Touadéra, and promote Russia’s role in the country.

Pavel lives in St. Petersburg but regularly travels to Bangui, where he stays at the Ledger Plaza hotel, which has effectively become Wagner’s headquarters. The property is guarded by armed personnel, and even senior government officials must undergo security checks to meet him, the WSJ reported.

CAR remains an exception to Russia’s Africa Corps expansion

The CAR is a rare exception to the Kremlin’s efforts to centralize its military operations in Africa.

In a report published in late December 2025, AFP described Wagner as the CAR government’s main security partner, operating in exchange for lucrative mining concessions. The group was deployed in 2018 at Touadéra’s request to strengthen the country’s military.

A European military source told AFP that Russian authorities had failed to persuade Touadéra to abandon Wagner.

The source said the arrangement suited the CAR president because Wagner receives mining concessions, whereas an Africa Corps presence would require payments in cash.

Analysts cited by AFP said Wagner had helped drive armed groups out of major cities and improve security, although violence persists in parts of the country. The group also played a key role in repelling a rebel offensive before Touadéra’s 2020 reelection.

However, human rights campaigners and opposition figures have accused Wagner fighters of widespread abuses. Analysts also warned that replacing the group could pose security challenges for the CAR government, with some questioning whether Africa Corps would be as proactive militarily.

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death left Pavel, then 25, in control of his father’s estate, valued at 12 billion rubles ($144 million). His inheritance reportedly included responsibility for supporting his father’s widow, two daughters, and mother.

A separate report by the outlet Port, citing its own source, says the family disputed Pavel’s reluctance to share the inheritance.