A major Myanmar military arms trader, Dynasty International, also known as Dynasty Group of Companies, has procured equipment for the Myanmar military after its illegal attempted coup.

Dynasty International has close ties to the Belarus regime and has brokered the purchase of arms and related materiel from Belarus, Russia and Germany.

The company is led by Dr Aung Moe Myint, who is also the Honorary Consul of Belarus to Myanmar, and the representative of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Myanmar.

In March 2021, Dynasty International imported Mi-17 parts from Ural Avia, according to the trade database ImportGenius. Ural Avia, based in Yekaterinburg, Russia, specialises in the supply of Mil helicopter components and aircraft repair.

Mi-17 helicopters are primarily used for military transportation.

Dr Aung Moe Myint is the son of Phone Myint, an ambassador under the former junta.

Dr Aung Moe Myint has operated Dynasty International with his twin brother, Hlaing Moe Myint and Myo Thitsar. Hlaing Moe Myint left the company in February 2022. While the company has been referred to as Dynasty Group of Companies, no legal entity with that name exists on Myanmar’s company registry.

Dr Aung Moe Myint owns one business in Singapore, Dynasty Excellency Pte Ltd, which is likely to be used to facilitate arms transactions. Dr Aung Moe Myint is the sole shareholder. The company has one additional director, Maung Tin Soe.

Belarus is a major arms exporter and has a joint commission on military technical cooperation with the Myanmar military.

Belarusian arms sales to Myanmar include two Kvadrat-M SAM missile systems, delivered in 2016, one hundred 3M9 surface-to-air missiles, delivered in 2015-16, and two Mi24/Mi-35 combat helicopters, delivered in 2019, according to SIPRI data.

Dr Aung Moe Myint has likely played a central role in the Myanmar military’s procurement of these arms from Belarus.

A 2013 email exchange, released by Distributed Denial of Secrets, gives an indication of Dynasty's role as a broker of Belarusian arms sales. The correspondence, which was between Myo of Dynasty Group and a "Leading specialist" of the Belarusian company, Tetraedr UE, shows the negotiation of a cooperation agreement in which Dynasty would receive a "due service charge" for negotiating the sale of arms. Tetraedr products include missile systems, radar and aerial target systems.

Myo, who is likely to be Myo Thitsar, asked for the business cooperation to be discreet "to puruse the realization of the projects effecitvely by avoicing possible obstacles from other third parties concerned."

Following the Myanmar military’s illegal coup attempt, Dr Aung Moe Myint travelled to Belarus to discuss “expanding and intensifying bilateral cooperation” with the military junta.

At the time, Dr Aung Moe Myint was also awarded a medal by the Belarus regime in recognition of his work as honorary consul.

In June, Belarus was the only country to vote against a UN General Assembly resolution calling on UN members to “prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar”.

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Dynasty International’s German links

Dynasty International is the local partner of the German aircraft manufacturer Grob Aircraft SE. Grob did not respond to questions on the current status of their business with Dynasty International and the Myanmar military.

The Myanmar Air Force has a fleet of twenty Grob G 120P trainer aircraft, that were delivered from 2015 onwards in a transaction brokered by Dr Aung Moe Myint.  

According to a source with knowledge of the transaction, targeting systems are installed in the aircraft, although Justice For Myanmar could not independently verify this. Grob did not respond to a request for comment.  

Leaked documents further show Dynasty's role in supporting the Myanmar military to maintain their Grob fleet.

On August 31, 2017, as the Myanmar military was carrying out its campaign of genocide against the Rohingya, “foreign experts” from Grob had a meeting with senior air force officials to sign a repair contract.

In the letter, Dynasty Group is described as Grob’s “partner company”.

Also in 2017, Grob delivered 14 spare parts to Dynasty, under a contract with the Myanmar military worth 322,393 Euros, according to a leaked Ministry of Defence document.

On March 27, 2021, the illegal junta demonstrated Grob aircraft during the Myanmar Armed Forces Day parade. On the same day, over 160 people were killed in the military’s brutal attacks, as documented by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

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Sanction arms suppliers!

Dynasty International and its shareholders, including Dr Aung Moe Myint, are complicit in the Myanmar military’s atrocities and profit from the military's grave international crimes.

Justice For Myanmar calls for immediate targeted sanctions against Dynasty International and the individuals involved, Ural Avia, and all other businesses and individuals that supply and transfer arms and related equipment to the Myanmar military.

Myanmar’s legitimate government, the National Unity Government, has already blacklisted Dynasty International along with 8 other arms brokers. Now the international community must act.

Dynasty International has links to the European Union and has transacted in Euros. Germany and the European Union have a particular responsibility to block Dynasty International’s access to European markets.

The Myanmar military continues to kill civilians with total impunity. Indiscriminate airstrikes are a key strategy in the junta’s campaign of terror. Grob has aided and abetted the Myanmar military’s crimes by increasing Myanmar Air Force capabilities.

Grob has not been transparent about their business with the Myanmar military, which has contributed to grave human rights violations.

We call on the German government to investigate and take swift action if Grob has violated EU sanctions. Potential violations may result from the company’s repair contract, supply of parts and the possible inclusion of a targeting system in the G120P aircraft.

Over one year since the military’s illegal attempted coup, businesses are continuing to supply the junta. It is time for the UN Security Council to take action to stop the flow of arms. We call for a global arms embargo now!

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Explore the evidence

Myanmar Air Force letter concerning a meeting with Grob (August 30, 2017): Download PDF (83 kb)

Email exchange between Dynasty Group and Tetraedr UE (May 2013): Download PDF (37 kb)

Extract from a leaked Ministry of Defence document concerning procurement for the 2016-17 financial year (reformatted and translated): Download PDF (115 kb)

Dynasty International company extract, including identity data of directors and shareholder: Download PDF (584 kb)

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Update (Mar 12, 2022)

Dr Aung Moe Myint's Singapore company, Dynasty Excellency Pte Lte, was added to the feature.

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Correction (September 26, 2023)

Aung Moe Myint's father, Phone Myint, was an ambassador under the former junta, not the home affairs minister with the same name.