Aliaksandr Shakutsin (; , born 12 January 1959, Orsha District, Viciebsk Region, Belarusian SSR, USSR) is a Belarusian businessman, allegedly close to Belarusian president

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

. Media widely characterize Shakutsin as an oligarch. On 17 December 2020, the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...

imposed sanctions on him.

Biography

Shakutsin graduated from the

Belarusian State Medical University Belarusian State Medical University (educational establishment “Belarusian State Medical University” – BSMU ( — БДМУ)( — БГМУ) is a university in Minsk, Belarus. It specialises in medicine and dentistry. History The beginning o ...

. He was a Soviet

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

activist, working in the central committee of LKSMB, the local Komsomol branch in the Belarusian SSR. In the early 1990s he headed the medical unit of

Minsk Tractor Works Minsk Tractor Works (; ; MTZ) is a Belarusian agricultural machinery manufacturer with headquarters in Minsk, Belarus. Minsk Tractor Works is one of the main tractor factories in the country. It is a part of the Minsk Tractor Works Industrial Ass ...

(MTZ). In 1990s he created a trade company Prommedinvest with MTZ top manager Igor Subbotin and fellow Komsomol activist Yaroslav Buyalski. Prommedinvest supplied hospitals with medical equipment, but later the company expanded to other sectors of economy. In 2001—2002 Prommedinvest and a Nepali businessman Upendra Mahato bought the controlling stake in Amkodor (Амкодор) holding company, which was formed around Udarnik (Ударник) factory in Minsk. In the early 2010s Alexander Lukashenko sold several factories to Amkodor at a low price. Shakutsin was one of the few businessmen who gained access to the export of petroleum production with his associate Mikalai Varabei via their Interservis (Интерсервис) company. Shakutsin's Spamash (Спамаш) owned 51% of Eksimoil (Эксимойл), which is also active in the export of petroleum products. Another petroleum products wholesaler

Yury Chyzh Yury Chyzh (, , Yury Chizh, born 1963) is a Belarusian businessman, believed to be one of the country's richest people. According to estimates, he is the second-wealthiest businessman in Belarus, the first being Vladimir Peftiev. On March 23, 2012 ...

was supposed to be a rival of Shakutsin among oligarchs close to Lukashenko. In 2016, Shakutsin and Mikalai Varabei started to construct a major business and hotel complex in Minsk. Construction was carried out for Chinese credit (US$120 million) by Chinese

CITIC CITIC Group Corporation Ltd., formerly the China International Trust Investment Corporation (CITIC), is a state-owned investment company of the People's Republic of China, established by Rong Yiren in 1979 with the approval of Deng Xiaoping. ...

. Shakutsin claimed that the loan terms were agreed to by

and

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

personally.

International sanctions

On 17 December 2020, the

imposed sanctions on both Varabei and Shakutsin (EU Regulation No 2020/2129). According to the regulation, Shakutsin was recognized as a person "who benefited most from the privatisation during Lukashenko’s tenure as President", "benefiting from and supporting the Lukashenka regime". Shakutsin claimed that the sanctions were imposed by mistake. Shakutsin was also sanctioned by the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Logex (Логекс) company, owned by Shakutsin and his son Aliaksandr, was reported to be a major re-exporter of European and South American flowers to Russia, having indirect tax breaks in Belarus. On 21 June 2021, Logex was also sanctioned by the EU. In 2022, Shakustin and Amkodor were blacklisted by Canada and Ukraine. On December 5, 2023, the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

’s

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade economic sanctions, ...

has added Shakutsin to its

Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...

Reactions

It was reported that in 2020 Shakutsin started to transfer some of his assets to his son. According to a 2023 joint investigation by the

Belarusian Investigative Center The Belarusian Investigative Center (BIC) is an independent media outlet from Belarus that operates in exile. The center offers five core types of content: investigative journalism, fact-checking, analytical reporting, news, and economic analysis. ...

and Lithuania’s Siena, a company controlled by Shakutsin and his business partners functions in Germany despite the European sanctions against Shakutsin In the autumn of 2023, the Belarusian Investigative Center released two new investigations on the alleged circumvention of Western sanctions by Shakutin’s companies. In June 2023, the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...

dismissed Shakutsin's request to lift the European Union sanctions against him.

Political and cultural activities

In 2013, Shakutsin's companies financially supported his protege

Alyona Lanskaya Alyona Lanskaya (, Romanized: ''Alena Lanskaja''; , Romanized: ''Alyona Lanskaya''; born 7 September 1985) is a Belarusian singer. In 2011, she won the Slavianski Bazaar Contest in Vitebsk. Alyona represented Belarus in the Eurovision Song Co ...

in the

Eurovision 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria (Loreen song), Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the Europea ...

song contest. Shakutsin is an honorary consul of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in Belarus. Shakutsin was a member of the Council of the Republic, being indirectly elected in 2008 and in 2012.Александр Шакутин
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shakutsin, Aliaksandr Living people 21st-century Belarusian businesspeople Belarusian businesspeople Belarusian politicians 1959 births Honorary consuls Belarusian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Belarusian State Medical University alumni Members of the Council of the Republic of Belarus