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Mikhail Gutseriev is hit by the UK sanctions for supporting the Belarusian authorities

On August 9, the UK government imposed sanctions against the Russian businessman Mikhail Gutseriyev. London's new restrictions also affect a number of high-ranking officials in Belarus, including Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The U.K. government press release states that Gutseriyev is «one of the main private investors in Belarus and a longtime associate of Alexander Lukashenko».

«The sanctions mean freezing of the assets of a sanctioned person,» explains Marat Samarskiy, a lawyer of the International Economic Compliance Practice of ART DE LEX law firm. According to Samarskiy, “persons who have a certain nexus (connection) with the United Kingdom» are required to be checked for maintaining any accounts, keeping any funds or disposing of economic resources for or on behalf of sanctioned persons. Such resources are to be frozen. There is also a requirement to refrain from transactions with sanctioned persons in the future and “cooperate with the sanctions regulator in every possible way,» he specifies.

«In practical terms, it means that Mikhail Gutseriyev's cooperation on any issues with most of his UK counterparts will be stopped and the strategies of the companies cooperating with him or his business structures will be revised», says Samarskiy. In this context, sanctions can be applied retroactively to the assets from which Gutseriyev has already withdrawn «only if there is a very serious political will on the part of the UK, and will require some special, non-standard legal grounds».

More details: https://www.vedomosti.ru/finance/articles/2021/08/09/881444-mihail-gutseriev