Potash, oil products, Lukashenka’s aircraft fleet: UK imposes sectoral sanctions on regime
On August 9, one year on from the rigged election in Belarus, the United Kingdom announced imposing a package of trade, financial and aviation sanctions on Belarus, in response to the continued undermining of democracy and human rights violations by the Belarusian authorities.
The package includes:
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Aviation measures to prevent Belarusian air carriers from overflying or landing in the UK and a prohibition on the provision of technical assistance to Lukashenka’s fleet of luxury aircraft.
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Trade measures on potash, petroleum products, interception and monitoring goods and technology, goods used in cigarette manufacturing, and dual-use goods and technology to reduce the amount of revenue flowing to the Lukashenka regime and to limit its access to items that could enable the internal repression of the Belarusian population.
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Financial measures prohibiting purchases of transferable securities and money-market instruments issued by the Belarusian state, as well as those issued by state-owned banks, and the provision of loans.
According to gov.uk, this comprehensive response will also include prohibitions on the provision of insurance and reinsurance to Belarusian state bodies, and changes to the UK government’s policy to further tighten the existing arms embargo.
“The Lukashenka regime continues to crush democracy and violate human rights in Belarus. These sanctions demonstrate that the UK will not accept Lukashenka’s actions since the fraudulent election. The products of Lukashenka’s state-owned industries will not be sold in the UK, and our aerospace companies will not touch his fleet of luxury aircraft,” UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.
The UK also put on the sanctions list Mikhail Gutseriev, a Russian businessman who is one of the main private investors in Belarus and a longstanding associate of Alyaksandr Lukashenka, due to his providing support for the government of Belarus.
