Chyzh not on EU new blacklist yet

The EU countries added 21 Belarusian officials to the list of persons subject to sanctions.

They are police and judicial officials considered to be behind the arrest and sentencing of opponents of the regime. The sanctions include the assets freeze and entry ban to the EU states. Names of the officials put on the blacklist have not been disclosed so far.

However, the name of Belarusian oligarch Yury Chyzh (Yuri Chizh), a close associate of Alyaksandr Lukashenka, is not on the list. Representatives of Poland were displeased with this fact noting that extending the blacklist was pointless in this case.

Yury Chyzh was removed from the blacklist at the request of Slovenia, which wanted to protect the country's economic interests. Representatives of Latvia also warned to be careful with imposing travel restrictions on Belarusian businessmen.

As Brussels-based EUobserver reports, Slovenia tries to protect its commercial interests. Slovenian construction firm Riko Group recently won bids for real estate projects with Chyzh conglomerate Triple.