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US blacklists Belarussian petrochemical firm
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com 11 14 07
The US Treasury said Tuesday it was implementing sanctions against Belarus's biggest petrochemical conglomerate, saying it was controlled by the country's "oppressive" president.
The US government has been critical of President Alexander Lukashenko's leadership of the ex-Soviet Republic for almost a decade. US officials have described Belarus as Europe's last dictatorship and raised concerns about political repression and human rights abuses.
"Today's action tightens our sanctions against Lukashenko and his cronies by imposing financial sanctions against a massive conglomerate under the regime's control," said Adam Szubin who oversees the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The Treasury's sanctions target the Belarussian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry, also known as Belneftekhim, and its representative offices in Germany, Latvia, the Ukraine, Russia and China, as well as a US subsidiary identified as Belneftekhim USA, Inc.
The Treasury sanctions bar US citizens from doing business with Belneftekhim as well as freezing any of the company's assets under US jurisdiction.
The blacklisting comes after Washington in August expanded a list of top Belarussian officials who are banned from entering the United States.
Story from AFP 13 1942 GMT 11 07
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