US Slaps Sanctions on Belarus Officials in Coordination with EU Key Sectors of Belarus Economy Targeted for Sanctions
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Established 1961 9 Business Tuesday, June 22, 2021 US slaps sanctions on Belarus officials in coordination with EU Key sectors of Belarus economy targeted for sanctions WASHINGTON: The United States yesterday Belarusian authorities of funneling the migrants imposed sanctions on dozens of Belarusian officials in through to hit back at its neighbor for leading the push a coordinated move with Western allies to hit strong- to punish Minsk. man Alexander Lukashenko after the forced landing of He warned the flow could increase after sanctions a commercial plane. “These coordinated designations were approved and that Lithuania “might need help demonstrate the steadfast transatlantic commitment to and assistance from other European countries”. By supporting the Belarusian people’s democratic aspira- approving sanctions on potash fertilizers and petrole- tions,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a um and petrochemical products, European Union for- statement. eign ministers are targeting two mainstays of the The Treasury Department said it was freezing any Belarus economy. US assets and barring any transactions with 16 indi- The sanctions-to be formally adopted by the 27- viduals and five entities including Lukashenko’s press nation bloc in the coming days-target major sources of secretary, Natallia Mikalaeuna Eismant. revenue for the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. The State Department said it was also banning travel to the United States by 46 Belarusian officials. Potash The United States already imposed a slew of sanctions Belarus is the world’s second-largest exporter of on Belarusian state-owned companies in May after potash fertilizers after Canada, according to the World authorities forced a Ryanair flight to land in Minsk by Bank, with sales in 2018 worth $2.8 billion. State group alleging a bomb threat and arrested a passenger, 26- Belaruskali says it produces around a fifth of the year-old opposition journalist and activist Roman world’s potash fertilizer and employs 16,000 people. Protasevich. The latest sanctions were taken in coordi- Exports are an important source of foreign curren- nation with the European Union, Britain and Canada. cy for the state-controlled economy. Most Belarusian The EU yesterday put seven Belarusian officials, LUXEMBOURG: Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio speaks with European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell during potash is exported to Brazil, China and India, but including the ministers of defense and transport to an a European Union Foreign Ministers meeting, in Luxembourg, yesterday.— AFP Poland and Belgium are also major clients. Production asset freeze and visa ban blacklist over the forced was suspended several times at the Belaruskali potash landing of a Ryanair plane. plant as workers joined strikes during last year’s post- The bloc also added a further 71 individuals-includ- mally signed off on placing 86 additional individuals Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega on board. election protests against Lukashenko. ing Russian tycoon Mikhail Gutseriyev, Lukashenko’s and entities in Belarus on an assets freeze and visa ban Last year, the EU slapped sanctions on 88 individu- son Dmitry and daughter-in-law Liliya-for ties to the blacklist, with the names to be published in the EU’s als-including Lukashenko and his son-over a brutal Petroleum products government’s sweeping crackdown on opposition or official journal later in the day. crackdown on protests since the veteran leader Belarus does not have its own hydrocarbon supporting the regime, the EU’s officials journal said. “We want to contribute in this way to the financial claimed victory at elections in August deemed fraud- reserves but oil and gas still play a major role in its The EU foreign ministers also yesterday agreed drying up of this regime.” ulent by the West. economy. The country benefits from preferential prices sanctions on key sectors of the Belarus economy as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had earlier Lukashenko, ruler of Belarus since 1994, has so far for Russian crude and has maintained refineries and the bloc ratchets up pressure on President Alexander said the sanctions should be wrapped up after a sum- shrugged off the pressure with backing from his key pipelines built when it was part of the Soviet Union. Lukashenko after the forced landing of an airliner, mit of the bloc’s leaders in Brussels later this week. ally Russia. Ahead of their discussions, EU ministers Refined petroleum products are Belarus’s biggest diplomats said. Ministers meeting in Luxembourg “Sanctions are a way of putting pressure on the gov- met with exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana export, worth $6.5 billion in 2019. Its main clients are backed broad-ranging measures targeting major rev- ernment of Belarus,” Borrell told journalists. “We’re Tikhanovskaya, who insists she rightfully won last Ukraine, which bought $2.5 billion worth that year, enue sources for the Belarusian regime: potash fertil- going to hurt the economy of Belarus heavily.” year’s poll. and Britain, which bought $2.2 billion worth. Three izer exports, the tobacco industry, petroleum and “Sanctions aren’t a silver bullet but they can help to EU countries followed: Germany, the Netherlands petrochemical products, and the financial sector, ‘No silver bullet’ end violence and release people,” Tikhanovskaya and Poland which together accounted for more than diplomats told AFP. Belarusian strongman Lukashenko sparked inter- wrote on Twitter. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister $1.5 billion in purchases. Belarus also controls a Officials said the measures-including a ban on sales national outrage by dispatching a fighter jet on May Gabrielius Landsbergis said he would also raise with series of pipelines carrying Russian oil and gas to of surveillance equipment to Belarus and tightening of 23 to intercept the Ryanair plane flying from Greece EU counterparts the issue of a sudden spike in Europe, but the EU does not yet appear to be tar- an arms embargo-should be formally adopted by the to Lithuania. When the plane was forced to land in migrants, mostly Iraqis and Syrians, crossing over into geting the network, which provides Minsk with sig- 27-nation bloc in the coming days. Ministers also for- Minsk, Belarus arrested dissident journalist Roman the country from Belarus. Landsbergis accused the nificant transit fees. — AFP likely to be technically-oriented,” O’Hare concluded. Global stocks up; However, Asian equities tumbled on growing expectations the US Federal Reserve will begin lifting interest rates as early as next year to prevent the eco- bitcoin slumps nomic recovery from overheating. European indices dived by about two percent on Friday, as traders NEW YORK: US and European stocks mostly rose digested the Fed’s pivot towards more restrictive poli- yesterday, bucking Asian losses as investors mulled the cy. To soothe traders fretting over surging inflation, US interest rate outlook, while bitcoin sank on news of central bank officials have for months pledged to a Chinese crackdown. London firmed less than a tenth maintain ultra-loose monetary policies until the of a percentage point in afternoon trading after UK rebound was well on track. But last week the Fed supermarket group Morrisons rejected a takeover brought forward its forecasts for tightening. approach. The news was initially taken broadly in stride by Frankfurt gained 0.7 percent and Paris rose by 0.3 investors as the Fed’s so-called “dot plot” outlook for percent. Wall Street opened mostly higher, with the rates suggested it would not begin hiking until 2023, Dow adding 0.1 percent after the blue-chip index and would discuss winding down its bond-buying pro- turned in last week its worst performance since gram later this year. But investors were spooked later October by tumbling 3.4 percent. “A cautiously posi- by comments from St Louis Federal Reserve President tive start to the week ... as investors attempt to put the James Bullard that liftoff could come as soon as late volatility of last week behind them,” summarized IG 2022. That sparked hefty losses on Wall Street. The analyst Chris Beauchamp. selling continued yesterday in Asia, with Tokyo posting a drop of more than three percent. omy-which has been battered by the pandemic. An “Rising instances of the Delta (COVID) variant in Aussie firm begins average of three tons of pure gold will be produced Europe will likely weigh on European markets-but the per year in its first eight years of operation, he said. overall view continues to be that the second half of the Bitcoin slumps Meanwhile, bitcoin slumped more than 10 percent Located in Keo Seima district, the Okvau Gold project year will see a further return to normality.” Cambodia’s first area has been carved from the once-protected land of However analyst Patrick J. O’Hare at Briefing.com at one point after China intensified a crackdown on trading and mining operations. The world’s most popu- Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, a government official said that the rebound on Wall Street might be more commercial gold mine told AFP. technical in nature than driven by fundamentals. “One lar digital currency later stood down 4.1 percent at $32,517.71. Beijing has pulled the plug on the massive Residents in Keo Seima-many of whom are indige- of the main drivers of support this morning is arguably nous minorities-have long clashed with authorities a recognition from buyers that this key technical level bitcoin mines of Sichuan province, in a regulatory SYDNEY: An Australian company yesterday officially assault on the digital currency that has rattled the mar- over government-backed projects that they allege are has consistently presented a good buying opportunity launched operations for Cambodia’s first commercial a cover for rampant deforestation of valuable timber. over the past 14 months,” he said.