The EU Court rejected the lawsuit of Alexander Shakutin, a businessman close to the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, who demanded the cancellation of the sanctions imposed against him.

 This was reported in the press service of the EU Court.

 "The factual evidence provided by the Council of the EU is specific, accurate and consistent enough to establish that Mr. Shakutin benefits from and supports the Lukashenko regime," the court ruled.

 After the 2020 presidential elections in Belarus, which were recognized by the Council of the EU as not meeting international standards and marred by repression against independent candidates and brutal dispersal of peaceful protesters, the Council of the European Union prepared a new cycle of restrictive measures against Belarus.

 In particular, he added to the list of persons who are prohibited from entering the country and whose funds and economic resources are frozen.

 Among the persons whose names were added to this list is a citizen of Belarus Oleksandr Shakutin.

 The EU Council identified him, inter alia, as one of the leading businessmen operating in Belarus, with business interests in construction, engineering and the construction, engineering and agricultural sectors, and as having benefited from privatization during Lukashenko's tenure the position of president.

 Shakutin appealed to the General Court with a statement about the restrictive measures imposed on him.

 In today's decision, the General Court dismissed Shakutin's lawsuit and thus upheld the restrictive measures imposed on him.

 It was previously reported that work on new European Union sanctions against Belarus has stalled, as some Western European countries seek instead to lift some already imposed restrictions on Belarusian potash fertilizers.