Royal hunting or how the Qatari emirs have fun in Belarus

The Belarusian authorities have started to distribute and sell lands.

Qatari emirs have accepted an invitation of Aliaksandr Lukashenka and now create the biggest hunting farm in Belarus. At the same time the Ministry of Agriculture and Food makes up a list of 16 agricultural enterprises that will be offered to families of the United Arab Emirates.

"Zautra tvae krainy" reports that the investment company (IС) "Sokol", which is a subsidiary of the investment fund of Qatari armed forces in Belarus imported several large shipments of deer from Lithuania last year in December.

It is mentioned in the reports of the Department of Veterinary and Food Control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Belarus. According to one of the permissions, issued by that structure, IС "Sokol" imported 400 heads of the European red deer, raised in the Shaulyajski district in Lithuania. According to another report, at the same time a caravan of 150 spotted deer was also imported from there.

In August 2011 it was the first time when Lukashenka, after his visit to Qatar, expressed the willingness to give Qatari emirs some land for hunting.

Belarusian media got a secret protocol of President's instructions where it was mentioned about promising spheres on cooperation with Qatar and other Gulf States. One of the orders authorized the eldest dictator's son Viktar Lukashenka to coordinate the work for specifying "lands for possible building up residences and the organization of hunting grounds for members of the ruling family of Qatar".

At the end of 2012 the order of the first Deputy Chairman of Minsk City Executive Committee gave the land to Qatar in Lahoisk and Minsk districts for gratuitous use to build up residences and hunting enclosures there. Imported at the end of last year Lithuanian deer seem to be their temporary inhabitants.

The Qatari company "Sokol" is now working in a different direction, which is designated in the Protocol on the creation of "Qatari island". Now it is building up a multifunctional complex with a five-star hotel, a sports center and other facilities on Peramozhtau Av. in Minsk. Last year Belarusian authorities offered the investment fund of Qatar Armed Forces to become the owner of the ice hockey club "Dinamo-Minsk".

In early 2015, it became known that another Gulf State, the UAE (United Arab Emirates), is interested in Belarus lands. According to the state-owned "Rural newspaper", the amirs needed land for growing grain. It is reported that the Ministry of Agriculture is now preparing the information on 16 agricultural enterprises, which could be of interest to wealthy investors.