Decision to Remove Gutseriev and Shautsou From EU Sanctions List Published
Reform.news Editorial Team · 14 October 2026, 17:37
https://reform.news/en/decision-to-remove-gutseriev-and-shautsou-from-eu-sanctions-list-published/The European Union has officially removed Russian billionaire Mikhail Gutseriev (Mikail Safarbekovich Gutseriev) and Belarusian businessman Viktar Shautsou (Viktar Arkadzievich Shautsou) from its sanctions list. The relevant EU Council regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on October 14.
According to the document, two entries have been removed from the sanctions list: Mikhail Gutseriev, who was listed under number 125, and Viktar Shautsou, listed under number 258. The decision was made “further to an evaluation of the relevant circumstances.” The regulation enters into force on the day following its publication.
Removing Gutseriev from the “Belarus-related” sanctions list will not help him fully escape sanctions, as he was added to a list related to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in July this year. Shautsou, however, appears only on the “Belarus-related” list.
As a reminder, on May 13, the General Court of the European Union annulled EU sanctions against Mikhail Gutseriev imposed over the situation in Belarus and his support for the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka. The court ruled that the EU Council had not provided sufficient evidence that Gutseriev continued to support the Belarusian authorities or benefit from his ties to them in 2025. Gutseriev had been under sanctions since 2021.
In April this year, the General Court of the European Union annulled the sanctions imposed by the EU on Viktar Shautsou, ruling that the Council had failed to provide sufficient grounds for his inclusion on the sanctions list. The court separately noted, however, that in February 2026, the EU Council had updated the sanctions list again and retained Shautsou’s name on it until February 28, 2027. The legality of that new decision was not examined in these proceedings.