On Thursday 27 March, the Council of the EU decided to impose restrictive measures on an additional 25 individuals and seven entities that it considers “responsible of undermining democracy and the Rule of law in Belarus” and which it accuses of “contributing to the ongoing internal repression, human rights abuses as well as military cooperation with Russia in support of the war against Ukraine”.
The EU has decided to sanction the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), which “organised the 2025 presidential elections which were neither free nor fair, conducted in a climate of repression and human rights violations, and in breach of Belarus’ OSCE commitments”. Its vice-president, Aliaksei Bashan, its secretary, Alena Baldouskaya, and five members of the CEC are also affected by these measures.
Aleh Ramanau, the Chair of the largest political party holding the majority of seats in the Belarusian parliament, was also listed, as were nine judges who have issued politically motivated sentences. Sanctions have been imposed as well on members of the President Property Management Directorate including the Head, his First Deputy and two Deputy Directors.
In addition, the EU imposed sanctions on companies and businessmen “supporting the Lukashenka regime and benefiting from it”, such as Ridotto LLC, which specialises in online gambling, and its majority shareholder, Dzmitry Shvedka, as well as Belorusskiye Loterei, which manages the lottery sector in Belarus, and its director, Mikalai Dzenisenka.
Two companies active in the military-industrial complex in Belarus and their directors are also concerned: OJSC Planar and its CEO, Sergey Avakov, and Precise Electro-Mechanics Plant and its Director, Yuri Tchorny, as well as JSC Integral. Sanctions have been imposed as well on Tsybulka-Bel LLC, a food company that coordinated with the Belarusian authorities the deployment of inmates as forced labourers.
310 individuals and 46 entities are now subject to measures relating to the situation in Belarus. Those designated today are subject to an asset freeze and EU citizens and companies are forbidden from making funds available to them. Natural persons are additionally subject to an EU travel ban.
To see the legal act: https://aeur.eu/f/g5k (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)