InfoBytes Blog
OFAC sanctions Belarusians for supporting Russian invasion of Ukraine
On February 24, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against 24 Belarusian individuals and entities due to Belarus’s support for, and facilitation of, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions focus on Belarus’s defense sector and financial institutions, which have close ties to Russia. OFAC stressed that the “Belarusian economy is highly dependent on key Russian financial institutions and their subsidiaries” and that restrictions imposed against the Public Joint Stock Company Sberbank of Russia, VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company, and State Corporation Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs Vnesheconombank, combined with the new measures taken against Belarusian banks “target nearly one-fifth of the country’s entire financial sector.” Specifically, OFAC designated two significant state-owned banks that directly or indirectly finance or conduct activity on behalf of the Government of Belarus (GoB). “Sanctioning these two GoB-owned banks, in addition to Russia-related restrictions imposed on three other systemically important Belarusian financial institutions, means that a significant portion of the Belarusian financial sector is now subject to U.S. sanctions,” OFAC stated. As a result of the sanctions, all property and interests in property belonging to the sanctioned individuals and entities that are in the U.S. or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, and “any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more” by the blocked persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any dealings involving the property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons, unless exempt or authorized by a general or specific OFAC license.
In conjunction with the sanctions, OFAC issued numerous related directives and general licenses that provide for multiple exceptions, along with several new and updated frequently asked questions. A Buckley Special Alert provides additional details related to the evolving nature of the U.S. sanctions response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.