EU General Court Rejects Belarusian Company's Sanctions Delisting Application

The EU General Court last week rejected Belarusian nitrogen compound producer Grodno Azot's application for delisting from the EU's sanctions regime on Belarus.

The European Council originally sanctioned Grodno Azot for being a Belarusian state-owned firm and a "source of substantial revenue" for the country's Alexander Lukashenko regime. The EU court said the designation was properly made, and contrary to the company's claims, the European Council "did not rely solely on the fact that they belong to the Belarusian State in order to consider that they support the Lukashenko regime."

The court said it's "apparent" that the reason for the designation was the financial relationship between the company and the Belarusian government. The judge said the fact that the company pays dividends to the Belarusian state is enough to establish financial support, "irrespective of the use that may be made of those resources by the regime."

Grodno Azot claimed that the company itself is not responsible for the human rights abuses of the Lukashenko regime. In response, the court said that "the Council did not have to demonstrate" that "the applicants, by reason of their financial contributions, were responsible for breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law or the repression of civil society and democratic opposition," since the company was sanctioned under the criteria that allows for restrictions on parties that support the offending regime.

Grodno Azot also said its dividends should be likened to taxes and that taxes are not indications of support. The court said that the fact that the company must pay taxes under Belarusian state law "does not contradict the finding that they provide financial support to the Lukashenko regime." Instead, it confirms it, the court said.