The Federal Council of Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) recently tightened sanctions on Belarus in response to the ongoing repression of civil society and opposition members after its disputed elections occurred in August 2020. On December 11, 2021, the Federal Council included, among other measures, new property sanctions, financial penalties, restrictions on financial services and travel-related sanctions. New property sanctions include but are limited to prohibitions on military equipment or goods that can be used for internal repression; prohibitions on technology equipment intended for surveillance; and a ban on the import of petroleum and petroleum products and export of goods used to manufacture tobacco products. The new financial penalties include asset freezes and obligations to declare blocked assets, while new financial services restrictions include prohibitions on the issuance and trading of certain financial instruments.
SECO also modified its Belarus sanctions list on December 17, 2021 to include 17 new individuals and 11 entities; these modifications were effective December 20, 2021.