Belarus: EU lists further 25 individuals and 7 entities in the context of the so-called presidential election and for supporting the repressive regime of Lukashenka

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The Council today decided to impose restrictive measures on an additional 25 individuals and 7 entities responsible of undermining democracy and the rule of law in Belarus, as well as 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 listed the Central Election Commission (CEC) its deputy Chair and secretary, as well as its members. The CEC 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. Aleh Ramanau, the Chair of the largest political party holding the majority of seats in the Belarusian parliament, was also listed.

Today’s listings also include nine judges who have issued politically motivated sentences, including against citizens who protested against the Lukashenka regime, or who voiced dissent, thereby participating in the repression of civil society and democratic opposition.

Furthermore, the EU has imposed restrictive measures on notable members of the President Property Management Directorate, a Belarusian government body subordinated directly to Lukashenka, generating revenue for the regime and profiting from it.

The EU also listed other companies and businessmen supporting the Lukashenka regime and benefiting from it, such as Ridotto LLC – specialised in online gambling – and its majority shareholder Dzmitry Shvedka; Belorusskiye Loterei – running the lottery business in Belarus – and its director Mikalai Dzenisenka. Two companies active in the military-industrial complex in Belarus and their top managers were also designated: OJSC Planar and its CEO Sergey Avakov; and Precise Electro-Mechanics Plant and its director Yuri Tchorny, as well as JSC Integral.

Lastly, restrictive measures were imposed on Tsybulka-Bel LLC, an agro-company that has coordinated with Belarusian authorities the deployment of inmates as forced labourers in direct violation of human rights.

Altogether, EU restrictive measures against Belarus now apply to 310 individuals and 46 entities. 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 a travel ban, which prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territories.

The EU stands with the people of Belarus and unwaveringly supports the Belarusian people’s quest for a free, democratic, sovereign and independent Belarus as part of a peaceful Europe.

The relevant legal acts have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Background

Since August 2020, the EU has imposed numerous successive rounds of individual and sectoral sanctions, against those responsible for internal repression and human rights violations in Belarus, and in the context of Belarus’ involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine. With these measures, the EU is signalling to the political and economic actors responsible that their actions and support for the regime and to Russia come at a cost.

In its conclusions dated 19 February 2024, the Council expressed its deep concern about the deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus, and strongly condemned the continuing persecution and intimidation campaigns against all segments of Belarusian society by the Belarusian regime. It deplored that political prisoners remain incarcerated in appalling conditions, exposed to torture and ill-treatment, without access to essential health services, and that many of these prisoners have been kept for long periods of time without contact with their lawyers and relatives. The EU urges the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners, and abolish the death penalty.

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