Myasnikovich, Syamashka and Chyzh to get into EU's "black list"?
The EU is preparing to expand the list of Belarusian officials and businessmen to impose visa and economic sanctions.
This has been informed by "Telegraph" with a reference to the EU's official publication EUObserver. A diplomatic source in Brussels has informed that the new names in the "black list" may appear in several days or weeks.
According to the newspaper EUObserver, some potential targets include members of the government said to have direct involvement in Lukashenka's private money-making schemes: Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich, deputy prime minister Vladimir Syamashka and border guard chief Ihar Rachkouski.
Belarusian oligarchs believed to pay tithes to Lukashenka in return for permission to do business are also in the firing line. The roll call includes: Yury Chyzh, who runs the Triple group of companies active in chemicals, health spas and retail, chairman of Amkodor Board of Directors Alyaksandr Shakutsin; tobacco and retail millionaire, the owner of the hypermarket "Korona" Paul Topuzidis; and milk and seafood seller Alyaksandr Mashenski, heading the company Santa Impex Brest.
Sources in Brussels claim that the list will be expanded if the Belarusian authorities sentence human rights defender Ales Byalyatski to imprisonment.
