On April 15, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated a total of 10 individuals and 12 entities in response to the Lukashenka’s regime’s ongoing support for Russia’s war against Ukraine and in an effort to deter financial benefits derived from this support. According to OFAC, several designees, including 6 revenue-generating state-owned enterprises (“SOEs”), were sanctioned for facilitating transactions for SOE Peleng JSC, an entity that was designated by the United States, in 2021, pursuant to Executive Order 14038 for operating in the defense and related materiel sector of Belarus’ economy or the security sector of Belarus’ economy. OFAC also sanctioned 10 designees for their roles in a Belarus-supplied gray arms network that supported key Belarusian defense company Kidma Tech OJSC, which was previously designated by OFAC in 2021.
The new designations were imposed pursuant to EO 14038 for being a leader or official of an entity that is controlled by the Government of Belarus or blocked pursuant to EO 14038 for being an entity that has operated in a key sector of Belarus’ economy. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of the designees within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving designated persons. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.