We investigate corruption, uncover fake news and analyze the news agenda. The BIC is a member of the global network of investigative journalists.
Our journalists are the recipients of the national award “Free Word” from the Association of Journalists of Belarus in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. At "Free Word" 2021 BIC’s team also received first place for Analytics
BIC is a member of the OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project)
We are also members of GIJN (Global Investigative Journalism Network)
"Still plowing with vintage tractors". How ZhS Premium misjudged Lithuanian farmers based on photos of the protest
... and compared their equipment to Belarusian and Russian machinery.
"Their equipment is top-notch!" the ZhS Premium authors quipped about Lithuanian farmers. The sight of old tractors at a protest in Vilnius set off the controversy. Weekly Top Fake journalists found that organizers deliberately brought vintage vehicles.
In June 2025, Lithuania’s Seimas approved an income tax increase for the highest earners. The change also affected large-scale farmers. On June 26, they gathered outside the parliament building to protest, bringing agricultural machinery with them. The Telegram channel ZhS Premium used photos from the demonstration to criticize Lithuanian agriculture:
"To be honest, their equipment is top-notch! In Belarus and Russia, tractors and haulers of the same age have long since rusted away and been replaced by new ones. But over there, they keep working the land with vintage machines left from the days of the damned 'occupation'," the Telegram channel’s authors wrote on the day of the protest.
The farmers really did bring 20 old tractors to the protest. One of the event organizers explained:
"City residents always point out that we work with new machinery, but we want to show what we used to build our farms."
In other words, the vintage equipment was brought intentionally — as a symbol of the journey, not as a reflection of the current state of the industry.
