Prominent businessman arrested in Minsk

The police in Belarus have arrested Evgeny Shygalov, a prominent businessman and the director of the Zhdanovichy huge trading complex in the suburbs of Minsk. Accordng to Interfax, Shygalov was arrested on suspision of illegally seizing the land. But  Belarus Partisan reports, however, that it could hardly be a reason for the arrest of this prominent and influential man.

Investigative reporters note that Evgeny Shygalov could have a real buisness conflict only with Priror Bank. The Zhdanovichy trade house is a co-founder of the Evropeyski Bank which services nearly all of the most important transactions in Europe. Correspondingly, Prior Bank lost control over the cash flow of the Zhdanovichy trading center. This reportedly could become the cause of a conflict.

According to the other scenario, Evgeny Shygalov has very good relations with the Mayor of Minsk Mikhail Pavlov. On one occasion, Pavlov demonstrated it clearly by proposing to include Shygalov into the leadership of the Belarusian Tennis Federation, which he chairs. Shygalov was not known to sports bureaucrats, but he was nevetheless elected a deputy tennis federation chairman thanks to the backing from the mayor. He became a deputy chairman together with Mikalai Mirnyi, the father and the coach of Belarus tennis star Max Mirnyi.