Pavel Prigozhin commands a Wagner force in the Central African Republic, The Wall Street Journal reported, drawing attention to gold revenue that researchers say flows outside the public treasury.
In a June 2026 report, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) put a minimum annual value of $180 million on gold Wagner obtained through illegal mining. The group identified gold as Wagner’s principal source of war revenue in research based on fieldwork from 2022 to early 2025.
The U.S. Treasury said on June 27, 2023, that Wagner-linked Midas Ressources SARLU held preferential mining rights at Ndassima. Treasury said Midas and Wagner prevented Central African officials from inspecting the mine.
For Ndassima, GI-TOC calculated possible yearly output of more than 5 metric tons of gold. That amount would be worth about $250 million at the export prices used in its report, but the valuation reflects estimated capacity rather than a tally of gold recovered. GI-TOC said Midas had declared no output, sales or exports.
The Journal reported that roughly 500 fighters serve under Prigozhin, 28, who took a larger role after the August 2023 death of his father, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. It said Pavel Prigozhin had assumed charge of arms sales to rebel groups in Sudan and Libya. The Journal said he and Wagner did not reply to a request for comment.
The Journal also described Wagner as controlling much of the local tramadol market. GI-TOC separately identified tramadol as part of the country’s conflict economy and said senior security officials were alleged to have captured that trade.
GI-TOC said an early 2021 campaign by the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) and Wagner disrupted rival armed groups’ supply routes, trafficking corridors and informal tax collections. Control of valuable markets later shifted toward networks aligned with the presidency, it said, while much of the income stayed out of the public treasury.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Pavel Prigozhin in March 2022 and said he controlled three Russian companies: Lakhta Park, OOO; Lakhta Park Premium, OOO; and Lakhta Plaza, OOO. The Journal, citing researchers, also described his earlier responsibilities for family properties. Investigators at All Eyes on Wagner later traced stakes he held in parts of the family business, though subsequent changes to company records obscured some ownership.
