Viktor Aleksandrovich Lukashenko[a] or Viktar Alyaksandravch Lukashenka[b] (born 28 November 1975) is a Belarusian politician and the eldest son of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. He currently serves as the president of the Belarus Olympic Committee. Previously, he served as a national security advisor to his father.

Viktor Lukashenko
Віктар Лукашэнка
Viktor Lukashenko in 2019
President of the Belarus Olympic Committee
Assumed office
26 February 2021
PresidentAlexander Lukashenko
Preceded byAlexander Lukashenko
National Security Advisor to the President of Belarus
In office
2005 – 26 February 2021
PresidentAlexander Lukashenko
Member of the Security Council of Belarus
Assumed office
January 2007
PresidentAlexander Lukashenko
Personal details
Born (1975-11-28) 28 November 1975 (age 49)
Mogilev, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
SpouseLilya Lukashenko
Children4
Parents
RelativesDmitry Lukashenko (brother)
Nikolai Lukashenko (half-brother)

Early life and education

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Viktor Lukashenko was born on 28 November 1975, to Galina Lukashenko, who worked at a kindergarten, and Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus since 1994.

Viktor Lukashenko graduated from the International Relations faculty of the Belarusian State University in 1998 and served his mandatory military duty at the Belarusian Border Guard Service between 1998 and 2001.[1]

Career

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He worked at the Foreign Ministry of Belarus and at a military exports company, Agat.

In 2005, Viktor Lukashenko became an Assistant on National Security to his father, President Alexander Lukashenko and in January 2007, he became a member of the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus.[1]

Viktor has been linked to Belarusian businessman Alexander Zaytsev [ru], who previously worked as Viktor's aide.[2][3][4] Zaytsev was the chairman of the council of Bremino Group which created a special economic zone in Orsha in 2018.[5]

In 2021, Viktor Lukashenko was appointed President of the Belarus Olympic Committee, succeeding his father, after both were banned from attending the Olympic games.[6]

Viktor Lukashenko was also relieved of his post as the Aide to the President for National Security on 1 March.[7]

Accusations and sanctions

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In 2011, after the wave of repressions that followed the 2010 presidential election in Belarus, Lukashenko became subject to an EU travel ban and asset freeze as part of a sanctions list of 208 individuals responsible for political repressions, electoral fraud and propaganda.[8] The EU sanctions were lifted in 2016.[9]

According to the EU Council's decision,[10] Lukashenko "has played a key role in the repressive measures implemented against the democratic opposition and civil society. As a key member of the State Security Council, he was responsible for the coordination of repressive measures against the democratic opposition and civil society, in particular in the crackdown of the demonstration on 19 December 2010." Besides that, Lukashenko is on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List of the United States Department of the Treasury.[11]

On 6 November 2020, the Council of the European Union included Viktor Lukashenko in the list of persons and entities subject to restrictive measures set out in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 765/2006.[12] He was banned from visiting European Union and his assets in EU were frozen.[13] Viktor Lukashenko was also sanctioned by the United Kingdom,[14] and Canada.[15] On 24 November, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania aligned themselves with the November EU sanctions against 15 Belarusian individuals,[16] while Switzerland did the same on 11 December.[17]

Viktor's wife, Lilya Lukashenko, runs an art gallery, Art Chaos Gallery in Dana Mall, a shopping center in the north of Minsk.[18] Dana Mall is owned by a large construction company, Dana Astra which in turn is said to be owned by Bogoljub Karić and Nebojša Karić, members of the Serbian Karić family.[19][20] Lilya Lukashenko was listed as a deputy director for Dana Astra 2016–2017.[20] Dana Astra's parent company, Dana Holdings, is the main contractor for one of the biggest development projects in Minsk, called "Minsk-Mir".[21] On 21 June 2021, Lilya Lukashenko was sanctioned by the European Union.[22][23]

In December 2020 the executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to exclude until further notice all members of the Belarusian Olympic Committee from all IOC events.[24]

In 2022, Viktor Lukashenko was sanctioned by Australia,[25] New Zealand[26] and Japan.[27]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Russian: Виктор Александрович Лукашенко, IPA: [vʲˈiktər ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ lʊkɐˈʂɛnkə].
  2. ^ Belarusian: Віктар Аляксандравіч Лукашэнка, IPA: [ˈvʲiktar alʲakˈsandravʲit͡ʂ lukaˈʂɛnka].

References

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  1. ^ a b "Виктор Лукашенко". TUT.by. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Бизнесмен Зайцев покинул футбольный клуб «Динамо-Брест», который стал государственным". Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Александр Зайцев | Ежедневник". ej.by (in Russian). Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Belarusian Tycoons Slipped into the EU via Lithuanian Investments | Journalismfund". www.journalismfund.eu. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Belarus president wants industrial, logistics hub in Orsha District sooner". 11 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Lukashenko's son replaces father at helm of Belarusian Olympic Committee after ban". Reuters. Moscow, Russia. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Viktor Lukashenko relieved of post of Aide to President for National Security". BelTA. Belarusian Telegraph Agency. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  8. ^ Поўны спіс 208 беларускіх чыноўнікаў, якім забаронены ўезд у ЕС - Nasha Niva, 11 October 2011.
  9. ^ Денис Лавникевич (15 February 2016). "Батьке простили старые грехи" (in Russian). Gazeta.Ru. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  10. ^ Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP of 15 October 2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine (consolidated text)
  11. ^ "OFAC Sanctions List Search". Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  12. ^ Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1648 of 6 November 2020 implementing Article 8a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures in respect of Belarus
  13. ^ "ЕС ввёл санкции против Александра Лукашенко и его сына". Радио Свобода. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK" (PDF). Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  15. ^ Canada, Global Affairs (19 October 2015). "Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Belarus) Regulations". Global Affairs Canada. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  16. ^ "Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures against Belarus". Council of the European Union. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  17. ^ "Belarus: Federal Council extends scope of sanctions". Federal Council. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  18. ^ "АртХаoс" (in Belarusian). Arthaos. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Lukashenko-linked firms active in EU member Cyprus". 14 October 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  20. ^ a b "What do Lukashenka's daughter-in-law and Cyprus have in common?". 22 December 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  21. ^ "Construction for Minsk-Mir gets green light". 14 August 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  22. ^ Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/997 of 21 June 2021 implementing Article 8a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures in respect of Belarus
  23. ^ Полина Химшиашвили, Евгений Пудовкин, Светлана Бурмистрова (21 June 2021). "Четвёртый пакет санкций в отношении Белоруссии. Главное" (in Russian). RBK Group. Retrieved 18 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ "IOC EB TAKES PROVISIONAL MEASURES AGAINST NOC OF BELARUS". The International Olympic Committee. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  25. ^ "Australia places additional sanctions on Russia and Belarus". Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Media release). 25 March 2022. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  26. ^ "Russia Sanctions Regulations 2022". New Zealand Legislation. 22 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  27. ^ "資産凍結等の措置の対象となるベラルーシ共和国の個人及び団体" (PDF) (in Japanese). Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
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