US, Allies Sanction Belarusian Networks Helping Russia Evade Export Controls

The U.S., the U.K. and Canada last week issued new, coordinated sanctions against Belarus, targeting people, companies and entities that are helping Russia evade sanctions and export controls, funding Belarusian oligarchs tied to President Alexander Lukashenko or taking other steps to aid the Russian or Belarusian governments. The sanctions, which were announced days after a similar set of designations imposed by the EU (see 2408050008), were meant to mark the four-year anniversary of the “fraudulent” 2020 presidential election that helped Lukashenko keep power, the countries said in a joint statement.

The countries called on Belarusian authorities to “immediately and unconditionally release the almost 1,400 political prisoners being held in Belarusian prisons,” adding that they will “continue to consider our options, including additional sanctions, to hold accountable those who enable the Lukashenko regime’s suppression of democracy in Belarus.”

The U.S. sanctions target a range of Belarusian companies and people working as part of a sanctions evasion network for Peleng JSC, a Belarusian optoelectronic company that the Office of Foreign Assets Control designated in 2021. They include laser devices and technology company LLC Laboratory of Additive Technologies, a “precision coordinate systems” manufacturer, and other Belarusian manufacturers, suppliers and their directors that supply Peleng.

OFAC also sanctioned Belarusian cargo airlines Aviakompaniya Rada LLC, Aviakompaniya Belkanto and UE RubiStar, their directors and other logistics companies for moving goods for Russia’s military. The agency said some of the companies help reexport machinery, hydrocarbons and “Western European goods” to Russia, while EW-001PB, a Boeing luxury jet, is used by Lukashenko “professionally and for his personal leisure.”

New General License 101 authorizes certain wind-down transactions or transactions related to civil aviation safety involving Aviakompaniya Belkanto, Aviakompaniya Rada, UE RubiStar and any entity they own 50% or more. Those transactions are authorized through 12:01 a.m. EDT Sept. 10.

The U.K.’s sanctions target four people and three entities, including four officers at penal colonies in Belarus responsible for the "commission of a serious human rights violation.” The three entities are defense firm JSC NIIEVM and machine tool manufacturers OJSC StankoGomel and Ruchservomotor LLC.

Canada’s sanctions target 10 people and six entities, including judges who have “arbitrarily condemned and sentenced democracy defenders and regular citizens” for protesting the country’s 2020 elections. The country also sanctioned people who have helped to coordinate military production in Belarus and Belarusian defense companies that repair military equipment for Russia.