The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued a general licence exempting Belavia (B2, Minsk National) from sanctions that were imposed on the Belarusian government and state-owned companies in relation to the country's complicity in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The licence, issued on September 11, 2025, does not remove the carrier or its aircraft from the list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) but authorises all transactions that are not prohibited by other sanctions frameworks both with Belavia and all of its subsidiaries.
The move came shortly after Belarus agreed to free 52 political prisoners. US Presidential Envoy John Coale told Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that US President Donald Trump had personally ordered exempting Belavia from sanctions.
The US initially denied all export privileges to Belavia in 2022 and subsequently imposed full-scale sanctions on the airline in 2023 under a package of sanctions targeting the Belarusian government and its state-owned firms. The European Union designated the Belarusian carrier already in 2021, before Russia invaded Ukraine with Belarusian support. The EU sanctions remain in force.
While Belavia will continue to be banned from EU airspace, the lifting of US sanctions can permit it to legally source aircraft and spare parts. Even while sanctioned, the carrier managed to secure three second-hand A330-200s earlier this year.
Belarus and Russia have formed a customs union and effectively abolished all border checks, including customs checks, facilitating the transfer of all goods between the countries.
