The Court of Justice of the European Union has refused to lift sanctions against the Belarusian company Dana Astra, which is one of the largest developers in the country.
The company has been on the list of EU sanctions for several years. The justification for the sanctions states that Dana Astra is one of Belarus’ largest developers, and it has received land for the construction of large residential complexes and business centers. The owners of Dana Holdings/Dana Astra maintain close ties with President Lukashenko. Lilia Lukashenko, his daughter-in-law, holds a high position at the company, and thus, Dana Holdings benefits from the regime and supports it.
Dana Astra is engaged in construction. Its largest project in Minsk is called “Minsk World”. This is a large multifunctional project covering more than 3 million square meters and costing an estimated 3.5 billion USD.
The company is connected with Serbian citizens – brothers Dragomir and Bogoljub Karic. Dana Astra tried to get removed from the UK sanctions list but the London High Court rejected their request.
In the Court of the European Union, the company drew attention to the hostile environment created by President Lukashenko’s regime. Due to the measures taken by the regime, the company could now be nationalized.
On July 1st, 2022, according to Resolution No. 436 of the Council of Ministers of Belarus, the company was added to the list of Belarus-based legal entities with foreign capital from countries that are considered hostile to Belarus and whose shares are subject to restrictions on transfer. In addition, a presidential decree prohibits reorganization of these companies and the seizure of their assets in favor of Belarusian entities with foreign investments from countries considered to be hostile.
However, the Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed the company’s claims, stating that they failed to prove how the actions of the Lukashenko regime were discriminatory against them.
As for the alleged risks of nationalization, the court noted that Dana Astra refers only to one nationalization measure adopted by the regime of President Lukashenko – the transfer of a school to the city of Minsk as part of the 16th stage of construction of the Minsk Mir center.
