# US removes Belaruskali head Andrei Rybakou from sanctions list

- URL: https://syn.by/en/state/business-entrepreneurship/us-removes-belaruskali-head-andrei-rybakou-from-sanctions-list/
- Published: 2026-10-22T09:00:11+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-22T17:45:16+00:00
- Section: Business & Entrepreneurship
- Language: en
- RU edition: https://syn.by/ru/gosudarstvo/biznes-i-predprinimatelstvo/ssha-isklyuchili-glavu-byelaruskaliya-andryeya-rybakova-iz-sanktsionnogo-spiska.md
- BE edition: https://syn.by/dziarzhava/biznes-i-pradprymalnictva/zsha-vykliuchyli-kiraunika-bielaruskalija-andreja-rybakova-z-sankcyjnaha-spisu.md

> On 21 October the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control deleted the Belaruskali director general from the SDN list. European Union sanctions against him remain in force.

![](https://syn.by/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/illustration-864-1024x585.webp)

On 21 October the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury removed Belaruskali director general Andrei Rybakou from the SDN sanctions list. The decision was published on the agency's website.

The document names Andrei Alekseevich Rybakou, born on 11 July 1976 in Mahilyou. OFAC also deleted the entries with several Latin-script spellings of his name. This is a removal from the list, not a temporary suspension of restrictions. Reports that sanctions have been lifted from Belarus's Permanent Representative to the UN, Valiantsin Rybakou, are erroneous.

Rybakou has been removed from the list of people whose assets are blocked in the US. The same day, OFAC published a notice under which a number of other individuals and organisations were also removed from the sanctions list. The agency's statement does not give the reasons for the decision.

European Union restrictions against the Belaruskali director general remain in force. For companies working with European partners and financial institutions, this means the risks have not been removed entirely. Belaruskali's official website still lists Rybakou as the company's head.

Belarusian state media link the American decisions to an exchange: according to them, in 2026 the US announced in stages the lifting and easing of sanctions on Belarusian enterprises, banks and state bodies in exchange for the release of prisoners. This is the version of the Belarusian side, which has an interest in sanctions being eased. Washington does not comment on it in the notice about Rybakou.

Rybakou was appointed director general of Belaruskali in November 2024: Alyaksandr Lukashenka approved the appointment on 4 November. Explaining the personnel decision, the head of Lukashenka's administration, Dzmitry Krutoi, pointed to Rybakou's experience of working with enterprises under sanctions.

Rybakou came under American sanctions on 9 August 2021, when he headed the state concern Belneftekhim. The US Treasury then explained the listing by saying that he had acted directly or indirectly on behalf of, or in the interests of, the concern, which had been under sanctions since 2007. The restrictions were imposed under Executive Order No. 13405.

According to pro-Russian outlets, in December 2025 the US special envoy John Coale, while in Minsk, announced the lifting of potash sanctions. The Belarusian Potash Company and Belaruskali were reportedly removed from the lists. Private Belarusian outlets operating inside the country write that Washington then announced its intention to lift sanctions on the potash sector.

Belarusian state media describe this as the result of successful talks in Minsk with the US special envoy: the US Treasury then officially announced the removal of a number of large enterprises from the lists. According to them, the negotiating process is accompanied by the regular release of convicted prisoners, which has been going on since the end of 2025.

In September 2026 Alyaksandr Lukashenka announced the shipment of the first batch of potash fertiliser for the US after the lifting of sanctions. According to private Belarusian outlets, direct deliveries of Belarusian potash to the US resumed after the restrictions were lifted. In October the first batch in four years, 30000 tonnes of potassium chloride, is expected at the port of New Orleans.

The US Treasury, according to the same reports, continues to ease unilateral restrictions against Belarusian individuals and companies. It is not yet known how the deliveries to the US will affect logistics and potash fertiliser prices in Belarus.

The chain of events runs as follows. In 2021 the US put Rybakou on the list because of his connection to a sanctioned concern. In 2024 in Minsk his experience of working with sanctioned enterprises was cited as an argument for his appointment. In 2026 he is removed from the list, and OFAC has not disclosed the reasons.

The US and Canada, the EU and the UK imposed sanctions on Belaruskali and other segments of the potash industry in 2021. After that the country began looking for new markets and logistics schemes. Belarusian state media believe that lifting sanctions from enterprises such as Belaruskali and Belneftekhim will strongly affect the economy, and speak of a noticeable warming in Belarusian-American relations. This is an assessment by the side that benefits from the lifting of restrictions, while EU sanctions remain in place.

In December 2025 OFAC issued a general licence for transactions involving the Belarusian Potash Company and Belaruskali. In March 2026, after American sanctions on a Belarusian ministry were lifted, Belarus's Ministry of Finance stated that trust would now grow, and recalled that it had "traditionally" spoken in favour of abolishing "non-market measures".