The Podolsk District Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv handed over the corporate rights of two companies, which have long been subsidiaries of the Minsk Automobile Plant, to the Office of the National Agency of Ukraine for Investigation, Search and Management of Assets Obtained from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA).

At the same time, the seized property - 20 trucks - was handed over to the ARMA.

The seizure of the assets of AvtoMAZ-Ukraine and the MAZ-Ukraine Trading House took place as part of a criminal investigation under Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 110-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation of property and financing of acts committed by force). changes in the constitutional order or the seizure of state power, changes in the boundaries of the territory or state border of Ukraine).

The prosecutor's office noted that the ultimate beneficial owners of these companies are "the state structure controlled by the government of Belarus."

What is known about AvtoMAZ-Ukraine

AvtoMAZ-Ukraine was registered in Ukraine in 2003.

Its founder is a foreign private enterprise "HPP", registered in Minsk, and the owner - a Russian citizen Vasily Smetanin, who lives in Moscow.

He is also the beneficial owner of the Ukrainian company "AutoMAZ-Ukraine".

This company participated in the repeated tender for the supply of buses to Nikolaev.

Last year, the city authorities of Mykolaiv after a meeting at the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine were forced to cancel the results of the tender, which won the Ukrainian company "Modern Trucks", also an MAZ dealer.

What is known about the MAZ-Ukraine Trading House campaign?

MAZ-Ukraine Trading House was registered on May 19, 2010 in Kyiv and was a subsidiary of the Minsk Automobile Plant.

In July 2021, after the imposition of international sanctions for election fraud and dispersal of protests, the Minsk Automobile Plant withdrew from the founders and beneficiaries of the Ukrainian company "Trading House" MAZ-Ukraine ".

Instead of MAZ, the founders included Pyotr Masherov Minsk Plant of Automatic Lines (99% of shares) and Zhodino Heavy Stamping Plant (1% of shares), which is part of BELAVTOMAZ Holding together with Minsk Automobile Plant.

According to the State Register of Ukraine, the final beneficiary owner of MAZ's Ukrainian subsidiary is the State Property Committee of Belarus, as it is the owner of the shares of the two new founders of the Ukrainian company.

The change of owners and beneficiaries allowed this company to participate in tenders for the supply of passenger, freight and special vehicles, which were carried out at the expense of the state and local budgets.

According to Ukrainian law, when applying for a tender, a company must indicate whether it is subject to international sanctions.

As you know, last June the European Union imposed sanctions against the Minsk Automobile Plant.

Sanctions against Belarus for supporting the Russian war in Ukraine

Alexander Lukashenko admitted that missiles were fired at Ukrainian territory from Belarus.

At the same time, Belarusian servicemen were not sent to Ukrainian territory.

In an interview with Svaboda, US Ambassador to Belarus Julie Fisher said that "Lukashenka's regime is complicit in Russia's current invasion of Ukraine because it allowed Russia to attack from Belarusian territory."

On February 26, Canada and the Council of the European Union announced sanctions against Russia and Belarus.

The list includes 20 Belarusian officials and servicemen.

15 legal entities and 8 individuals were on the US sanctions list.

On February 28, the ambassadors of the European Union imposed visa sanctions on 22 high-ranking Belarusian officials.

The Mabelaine factory in Maladzyechna has come to a standstill, as the Swedish company IKEA has closed its business in the country.

IKEA has worked closely with a number of manufacturers and factories, including government.

Among them are the state "Minsk Furniture Center" from Maladzyechna, Mogilev textile manufacturer "Mogatex", Minsk watch factory "Ray" and others.

In March the European Union banned the export of wood products produced or exported from Belarus.

The Ministry of Forestry has stated that it is forced to send products from Europe to Asia.

Due to the difficulties of doing business in the region, Booking.com and Airbnb travel accommodation services do not operate in the country.

The Danish transport and logistics company Maersk announced the cessation of cargo transportation to Belarus on March 4.

Other companies of a similar profile, DHL and FedEx, have announced their withdrawal from the Belarusian market.

On March 5, the Finnish company OLVI announced the beginning of the closure of its business in Belarus, where the company owns Lida Beer.

As long as 840 employees of the plant will be paid, the closure of the business will be gradual.

On March 6, the Republic of Korea imposed sanctions.

They introduced export control measures against Belarus, believing that it "significantly contributes to Russia's invasion of Ukraine."

On March 8, sanctions were imposed by Japan.

Assets of individuals and legal entities subject to the new restrictions are being frozen.

Supplies of dual-use goods to Belarus and exports to the Ministry of Defense of Belarus and Integral are prohibited.

The World Bank has suspended all programs in Belarus.

The bank noted that it had not approved new loans to Belarus since 2020.

The restrictions affected the sports industry.

Belarusian national teams of different ages have been barred from participating in international hockey, handball and basketball tournaments.

The Belarusian national team was not allowed to participate in the 2022 Paralympic Games.

Against the background of sanctions, the rating agency Fitch lowered the long-term sovereign credit rating of Belarus to the CCC, which means a real possibility of default.

The American financial company American Express has suspended the provision of services in the country.

According to her cards, no business transactions are possible now.

On March 9, the European Union approved the disconnection of three Belarusian banks from SWIFT.

These are Belagroprombank, Dobrabyt Bank and the Development Bank.

On April 16, a total ban on crossing the border with Belarus by Russia and Russia will be introduced.

The decision of the European Union, published in the official journal, says that the EU in accordance with the sanctions prohibits the import and transit of goods by road from Belarus and Russia to the European Union.