EU removes Russian billionaire and Belarusian national from sanctions list

LUXEMBOURG, October 14, 2026 — The Council of the European Union adopted Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2313, removing Mikail Safarbekovich Gutseriev and Viktar Arkadzievich Shautsou from the list of individuals subject to restrictive measures under Regulation (EC) No. 765/2006. The decision follows an assessment of the circumstances surrounding their designations and forms part of the EU's sanctions framework targeting Belarus and its involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine.

Gutseriev, a Russian businessman with extensive interests in the energy and property sectors, had been subject to EU sanctions under the Belarus regime. His removal represents a significant change in his sanctions status within the European Union. Shautsou has also been removed from the same framework, with the Council deleting entry 258 alongside Gutseriev's entry 125 from Section A of Annex I, which identifies sanctioned natural persons.

The regulation does not provide detailed explanations for the individual removals, stating only that the Council conducted an evaluation of the relevant circumstances. The amendments remove the two individuals from the EU's Belarus-related asset-freezing list but do not affect the wider sanctions framework, which continues to impose financial restrictions on designated individuals and entities associated with the Belarusian authorities and the country's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The implementing regulation was published in the EU Official Journal on Oct. 14 and entered into force on Oct. 15. The removals are directly applicable across all 27 EU member states, meaning the two individuals are no longer subject to asset freezes under this specific EU sanctions regime, although any restrictions imposed under other jurisdictions or separate legal frameworks remain unaffected.