The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced expanded sanctions against the Belarusian regime three years after the country’s disputed 2020 presidential election.
The sanctions target individuals and entities involved in the country’s ongoing “civil society repression, complicity in the Russian Federation’s unjustified war in Ukraine, and enrichment of repressive Belarusian regime leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka,” the Treasury said in a press release Wednesday.
OFAC sanctioned three state-owned enterprises, including Belarusian Steel Works, airline Belavia, and an aviation plant. Miami-based Bel-Kap-Steel, of which all voting capital is controlled by Belarus; a Canadair regional jet operated by Belavia; and Belarus’s supposed financial investigations watchdog were also designated.
The sanctions follow a reinvigorated anti-Russian push in May to choke off funds and military supplies amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Four employees of the Belarus Department of Financial Investigations were added to OFAC’s specially designated nationals and blocked persons list.
Concurrently, the State Department imposed visa restrictions on more than 100 Belarusian regime officials and their affiliates under a 2021 executive order from President Joe Biden.
The Treasury warned any financial institutions and other persons that engage in transactions or activities with the sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or an enforcement action.
“The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person,” the agency said.
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