EU Announces Sanctions on Belarus' Financial Sector
The EU announced new sanctions targeting the Belarusian financial sector to expand on existing restrictions on the country in response to its role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The new restrictions apply to three banks -- Belagroprombank, Bank Dabrabyt and the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus, along with their Belarusian subsidiaries -- and keep them using SWIFT, the interbank messaging service.
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The financial sanctions further bar transactions with the Central Bank of Belarus and prohibit the listing and provision of shares of Belarus state-owned entities on EU trading venues starting April 12. The European Council also moved to limit the financial inflows from Belarus to the EU by blocking the acceptance of deposits over 100,000 euros from Belarusian nationals and barring the provision of euro-dominated banknotes to Belarus.
The EC also announced that it is restricting the export of maritime navigation goods and radio communication technology to Russia. Under these rules, it's now illegal to "sell, supply, transfer or export, directly or indirectly, maritime navigation goods and technology to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia, for use in Russia, or for the placing on board of a Russian-flagged vessel." The council included crypto-assets in the list of banned transferable securities.
"With these additional sectoral sanctions, we are sending a strong message: the unprovoked and unjustified military aggression waged against Ukraine by the Putin regime with assistance by" Belarus President Alexander "Lukashenko comes at a high price," EU Foreign Affairs Representative Josep Borrell said. "We are closing the loopholes of our existing sanctions and imposing further measures on Belarus’ financial sector."