The US announces sanctions against twelve entities and ten individuals related to Belarus

April 16 () –

The US Treasury Department has announced sanctions against twelve entities and ten individuals related to Belarus' August 2020 “fraudulent elections” or Minsk's support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“The authoritarian regime of (Belarus President Aleksander) Lukashenko continues to rely on revenues from its public companies to finance violent repression of its citizens and circumvent US sanctions. We will continue to leverage our extensive toolset to target Belarus' extensive illicit brokering networks and hold the regime accountable for its complicity in and taking advantage of Russia's unjust war in Ukraine,” said Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.

Among the sanctioned individuals and entities are six state-owned companies and five individuals involved in facilitating transactions for the country's Defense industry.

In addition, five other companies and individuals are involved in a global arms sales network that works with a previously sanctioned Belarusian Defense entity.

Regarding the generation of revenue for the Belarusian state, the Treasury has sanctioned 'OJSC Stankogomel', 'OJSC AGAT', 'JSC NIIEVM', 'JSC Communication Equipment', 'JSC AGAT-System' and 'LLC InnoTech Solutions'.

The companies sanctioned for facilitating the transactions are the Chinese company 'Shenzhen 5G High-Tech Innovation Co., Limited' and Belarusian citizens Oleg Yurchik, Aliaksandra Aksianchuk, Dimitri Braim, Siarhai Charheika and Dzmitry Mikhaltsou.

For their relationship with the aforementioned arms network, the Treasury has sanctioned the companies 'Black Shield Company for General Trading LLC', 'Centuronic Ltd (Centuronic)', 'S.Group Airlines Ltd' and 'Phoenix Lines SRO', while The people involved are Samer Rayya (Lebanese), Mohamad Majd Deiry (Syrian), Rayya Danismanlik (Turkish), Tatyana Protopovich, Nora Yagmur and Alhaitham al Ali (Slovak).

The sanctions involve the blocking of all assets and interests of these persons and entities that are located in the United States or that are under the control or possession of its citizens, including those that are controlled by them by 50 percent or more. It also entails the prohibition of transactions with blocked assets and interests by Americans or from within the country. Institutions and people that fail to comply with the sanctions will be subject to being subject to them.