The Top 100 NGOs 2013. - Akshaya Patra

yuri chizh’s chilDhooD
home in saBali, where his
moTher sTill lives.
acquisition by more powerful rivals.
Ultimately, Belarusian business
needs Europe.
The EU’s reaction to the deteriorating
political situation following dubious
presidential elections in 2010 has been
direct and demonstrative. To date, more
than 200 people – mainly security and
judicial officials – have been banned
from traveling to Europe, and have seen
their bank accounts blocked.
Last March, 12 more individuals
and 29 companies were added to the
list, and their foreign assets frozen.
Some EU member states, however,
appear reluctant to enforce these
restrictions wholeheartedly.
The vanguard of Lithuania, Latvia and
Slovenia, for instance, intervened to
reduce the scope of the second round of
sanctions. The two Baltic ports profit
so heavily from acting as the transit
point for goods imported by Belarus
that it would have been commercially
self-destructive to participate actively
in stemming the flow. Moshanski’s food
products and a handful of Chizh’s assets
related to his Prostore supermarket
FeaTure FeaTure
chain, amongst others, have thus been
shielded from the European list. More
discreetly, the governments of the
Netherlands, Germany and Austria
have also done little behind the scenes
‘As long as Russia
agrees to subsidize
its small neighbor,
Lukashenko and
his entourage will
be able to resist
any European
pressure or public
demonstrations of
discontent.’
to oppose the determined Baltic
negotiating stance. The Dutch are one
of the main European importers of
reprocessed Belarusian oil products,
The gloBal Journal + January & FeBruary 2013
while the latter two countries have deep
business ties in Minsk and beyond,
involving some significant national
actors such as banks and chemical and
machinery companies. The EU cannot
completely shut the door on Belarus.
The sanctions policy has had limited
impact, however, at least so far as
the business sector is concerned. It
seems that banning (for differing
reasons) Peftiev, Chizh and Ternavsky,
and freezing their assets, is merely
the minimum action the EU felt
obliged to undertake in the current
circumstances. Peftiev, believed to be
Belarus’ richest business figure, was
already within the orbit of American
investigators for his troubled relations
with non-recommended states. Chizh
and Ternavsky, leading very similar
holding companies, mainly work and
prosper within Belarusian boundaries.
Sergei Satsuk, Director of Ezhednevnik
Zhurnal, and probably the most
reputable business observer in Minsk,
confirms that “Chizh’s interests in
Europe represent only 3 percent of
his whole empire.” It is likely that
Ternavsky has even fewer business
aPProaching saBali, The
FlaT counTrysiDe will
soon make way For a
hoTel, resTauranT anD
museum as ParT oF chizh’s
reviTalizaTion Plan.
ThegloBalJournal.neT
106 107