Photo: belta.by
The state-owned giant factories have again gone to the court of the European Union to protest the restrictive measures imposed by the European Council against them in June 2021 for supporting the Lukashenka regime.
The statements, which are published in the Official Journal of the EU, contain a demand to cancel the decision of the European Council of February 26, 2024, which extended the sanctions imposed in 2021 for another year.
The statements draw attention to the alleged illegality of the imposition of sanctions, an error in the assessment for the application of sanctions criteria, as well as a violation of the fundamental rights of the applicants.
MAZ and BelAZ have been under EU sanctions since June 21, 2021. European companies were banned from cooperating with these enterprises, and assets of Belarusian enterprises were frozen. After that, the number of fires of MAZ buses increased significantly, as the company began to use complete parts from Russia, China and other unknown sources.
In early September 2021, both companies had already filed lawsuits with the EU court demanding that they be excluded from the blacklist. In October 2023, the EU Court of Justice decided to leave the sanctions in force.
As indicated in the justification, MAZ and BelAZ are one of the largest state-owned enterprises in Belarus, they are a source of significant income for the regime. Both plants provided their premises and equipment for holding a political rally in support of Lukashenka.
It also mentions that during strikes and peaceful protests after the rigged 2020 presidential election, employees of both enterprises were locked in office premises so that they would not join other protesters. At BelAZ, the management exposed the strike in the media as simply a “staff meeting.” Employees were intimidated and threatened with layoffs, and at least at the plant these layoffs were subsequently carried out.
Thus, according to EU officials, BelAZ and MAZ enterprises benefit from the Lukashenka regime and support it, as well as “bear responsibility for repressions against civil society.”
