A few weeks ago, the United States Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), added a new part to Chapter V of Title 31 of the United States Code of Federal Regulations. That part, codified at 31 C.F.R. Part 548, constitutes the Belarus Sanctions Regulations.

These regulations were promulgated in order to implement Executive Order 13405 (“E.O. 13405”). In E.O. 13405, the President determined that the actions of certain members of the Government of Belarus undermined Belarus’ democratic institutions, allowed for human rights abuses related to political repression, and facilitated public corruption. According to E.O. 13405, such actions constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. It is believed that such activities occurred during the March 2006 elections in Belarus.

The Belarus Sanctions Regulations block, with certain exceptions, all property and interests in property in the United States of the persons listed in the Annex to E.O. 13405 and any person determined to meet the designation criteria set forth in E.O. 13405. This blocking includes making donations of food, clothing, and medicine to such individuals.

As noted above there are some exceptions. These exceptions include and allow for personal communications with designated individuals, the importation and exportation of informational materials from or to such individuals, and engaging in transactions ordinarily incidental to travel.

Section 548.411 of the Belarus Sanctions Regulations also explains that the property and interests in property of an entity are
blocked if the entity is 50 percent or more owned by a person whose property and interests in property are blocked, whether or not the entity itself is listed in or designated pursuant to E.O. 13405. This is important information to have if you own shares of a corporate entity in Belarus. If you are indeed someone falling under such circumstances, it would be wise to find an attorney experienced in dealing with OFAC and U.S. economic sanctions to look into whether or not you have some exposure to violation of the Belarus sanctions.

It should also be noted, that like other OFAC administered sanctions programs, specific licenses can be obtained, which can allow for transactions otherwise prohibited by the Belarus sanctions to take place.

The Belarus Sanctions Regulations can be found here.

The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in OFAC litigation. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 at 202-351-6161 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.