Yevgeny Prigozhin is dead, but his mercenary empire lives on. His son has expanded the family business in the Central African Republic, WSJ reports.
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.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the notorious Russian oligarch known for his mercenary empire, has passed away, but his business has continued to thrive under the leadership of his son, Pavel. According to The Wall Street Journal, Pavel Prigozhin has managed to expand his father's operations in the Central African Republic (CAR), where his father had a significant presence.
Russian authorities took control of the Wagner Group after Yevgeny Prigozhin's death, creating the Defense Ministry’s Africa Corps to oversee the mercenaries in Africa. However, Pavel Prigozhin retained control of Wagner fighters in the CAR and has been able to expand his father's business through strategic alliances. CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra played a crucial role in assisting Pavel, asking the Kremlin not to replace Wagner fighters with Russian Defense Ministry troops, allowing the younger Prigozhin to integrate his mercenary group into the country's police, army, and intelligence units.
Pavel Prigozhin's influence in the CAR is substantial. His forces guard the president, combat rebels, and generate revenue from gold mining, drug trafficking, and arms sales. The younger Prigozhin controls the country's largest gold deposit, which yields $250 million annually. Local authorities facilitate the shipment of gold abroad by labeling it as government property. Over the past three months, shipments have passed through Belarus.
In addition to gold, Pavel Prigozhin holds a significant portion of the local tramadol market and sells weapons to rebel groups in Sudan and Libya. The Wagner Group also operates a vodka and beer brewery in the CAR. The Prigozhin family's estimated annual earnings exceed $400 million, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
Pavel Prigozhin, who was 25 when his father died in August 2023, inherited the entire estate valued at 12 billion rubles. Under the will, he was obligated to provide his family with a "decent standard of living," including his parents, wife, and two daughters. However, a family dispute arose due to Pavel's refusal to share the inheritance equally, as reported by the news outlet Port, citing an unnamed source.
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