November 26, 2012 Members of the UK Parliament Dear Members of Parliament, "Belarusians in exile" is a non profit organization uniting

Belarusians and their families who were forced to leave the Republic of Belarus because of systematic violations of human rights, violations of democratic principals, and the risk of persecution for our political views. We urge you to expand the list of sanctioned companies and individuals in Belarus as the only effective way of encouraging the development of democracy in our country. Britain is one of the largest trade partners of Belarus. In 2010 the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $1.2 billion and the UK was Belarus eighth largest trade partner.1 Despite Council Decision 2011/357/CFSP and Council Regulation (EU) No 588/2011 and the Belarus (Asset-Freezing) Regulations 2012 imposed by the UK Parliament, Britains imports are continuing to finance the Lukashenka regime. EU countries predominantly import oil products and potash fertilizers from Belarus. Most of the funds received by Belarusian companies exporting oil and potash to the UK and other EU countries are directed to the government to support the dictatorial regime of Alexander Lukashenka. Sanctioning the companies and the people heading Belarusian businesses in this sphere must therefore be a top priority for an effective program of sanctions that encourages positive change. Article 3 (b) EU Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP of 15 October 2012 now requires companies and individuals who have been identified by the EU Council as benefiting from or supporting the Lukashenka regime to be added to the asset freeze list and visa ban list. Article 4 (b) requires that the assets of natural or legal persons supporting the Lukashenka regime be frozen. However, neither the Council nor the UK have updated their sanction lists since the law was expanded to include the key companies providing financial support to the regime and the people running them. Therefore the companies which are most responsible for financially supporting the regime and the individuals running them continue to escape sanctions and the regime continues to derive significant finance from exports to the UK and EU. 1 http://news.belta.by/en/news/infographics?i_id=554

Experts from the European Parliament concluded that one of the most effective measures to change the political situation in Belarus is to increase the number of Belarusian elite who are banned from entering the EU. Specifically expanding the list of banned people from just those individuals responsible for the oppression of political freedom and human rights to targeting key business elite (decision making elite) who support the ruling regime.2 EU sanctions are more likely to have the desired impact in Belarus if they target representatives of Belarusian the business elite actively supporting the regime. These businessmen have a strong lobbying power and their influence could be strengthened as a consequence of adverse effect of sanctions on their welfare status. Sanctions are likely to force them to negotiate their interests in the government and may thus lead the government to make some political concessions.3 In accordance with the EU Regulation the UK government has introduced a black list of Belarusian companies subject to sanctions and officials who are prohibited from entering the country. However, this list was drawn up under previous versions of the sanctions which only allowed the sanctions to target companies and individuals that were directly involved in human rights and democratic abuses. Now that the law has been expanded to allow targeting the key companies that financially support the regime and the people running them, we urge you to expand to the sanction list to include these companies and individuals. A list of the companies that are the leading contributors to Belarusian export earnings and which are most active in the UK and EU, as well as their General Managers is attached to this letter. In order to foster a change in the political situation in Belarus, to stop political repression and to provide a normal life for the citizens of our country, we ask the Parliament of Great Britain to: 1. Strengthen the economic sanctions against Belarus by including the Belarusian companies that provide a significant share of foreign exchange earnings, which are used to support the Lukashenka regime; 2. Include in the "black list" of Belarusian individuals who are banned from entering the UK, the officials and businessmen running these companies. "Belarusians in Exile hopes for the vigorous support of the British Parliament and the EU Member States in the fight for human rights and political freedom in Belarus. Belorussians in Exile office@belorussians.org
+44 020 3289 6096

2 "(European Parliament - Directorate General For External Policies - Impact of Targeted Sanctions On Belarus).
3 "(European

Parliament - Directorate General For External Policies - Impact of Targeted Sanctions On Belarus).

Companies providing significant economic support to the Lukashenka regime (much of it derived from trade with the EU) and which should be added to the Belarus (Asset-Freezing) Regulations 2012:
1. Belarusian Autoworks OAO (Every third mining dump truck in the world Dump trucks, road building equipment, mining equipment. State owned.); 2. Belarusian Oil Company: (The principal exporter of oil products from Belarus.); 3. Belarusian Oil Trade House: (Subject to sanctions imposed by the USA); 4. Belarusian Potash Company (Worlds largest exporter of potash supplying 43% of the worlds potash. 50% owned by Belaruskali potash production company (which is State owned) and the Belorussian Railways); 5. Belaruskali (One of the worlds largest producers of potash fertilizer. Owned by the government of Belarus under Belneftekhim which is sanctioned by the USA); 6. Belneftekhim - Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry: (Subject to sanctions imposed by the USA); 7. Belshina OAO: (Belarusian Tire Works one of the largest enterprises in Europe. Owned by the Government of Belarus under Belneftekhim. Subject to sanctions imposed by the USA); 8. MAZ OAO Minsk Automobile Plant: Heavy trucks and tractors, buses, trailers and special vehicles. State owned. 9. Mozyr Refinery; Producer of Gasoline, Diesel fuel, furnace fuel and liquefied gas. The State owns 42.76% of the refinerys shares; 10. Naftan OAO: (Naftan is a subsidiary of Belneftekhim Concern that supplies petroleum products to Belarus in addition to producing and refining diesel fuel. 99.8% of its shares are owned by the State. Subject to sanctions imposed by the USA); 11. Republican Unitary Enterprise "Minsk Tractor Works" One of the worlds 10 largest tractor producers. State owned.

Individuals running the above companies and who should be added to the UK visa ban list:
1. Borovsky, Alyaksandr General Director of MAZ OAO Minsk Automobile Plant 2. Chirun, Nikolai General Director of Belshina OAO - Belarusian Tire Works 3. Ivanov, Valery General Director of the Belarusian Potash Company. 4. Kiriyenko, Valery General Director of Belaruskali potash producer 5. Kupriyanov, Anatoly Alexandrovich General Director of the Mozyr Refinery 6. Parkhomchik, Piotr Alexandrovich General Director of Belarusian Autoworks OAO 7. Pukhovoi, Alexander Alexeevich General Director of the Republican Unitary Enterprise "Minsk Tractor Works" 8. Streletsky, Andrey Valerievich General Director of the Belarusian Oil Trade House 9. Tretyakov, Vladimir K. General Director of Naftan OAO 10. Zhilin, Igor Fyodorovich Chairman of the board of Belneftekhim The Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry 11. Zubkov, Vladimir Vladimirovich General Director of the Belarusian Oil Company OAO