Rahman Ravelli emphasises the pressure being placed on Belarus president Lukashenko by UK sanctions

With the UK having imposed new sanctions on Belarus, Rahman Ravelli were asked by Thomson Reuters for their thoughts on the action taken.
Rahman Ravelli told Thomson Reuters’ Regulatory Intelligence that the UK is now going further than it previously had done in relation to the Belarus regime.

The UK has added Mikhail Gutseriev, a main investor in Belarus and associate of the president Alexander Lukashenko, to its sanctions target list. With the UK government describing him as  a prominent Russian businessman who is one of the main private investors in Belarus and a longstanding associate of Alexander Lukashenko, the sanctions apply to companies that Gutseriev owns or controls.

Banks and other institutions will now have to determine which companies have connections to Gutseriev.

Rahman Ravelli emphasised that the new sanctions are notable in that they go far beyond the measures, such as asset freezes or travel bans, that the UK would usually employ. They are a sign, he said, that the UK is “is seeking to exert maximum pressure on Lukashenko."

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