EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - September 23,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 001169

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - September 23,
2005


1. The following are brief items of interest compiled
by Embassy Minsk over the past week.

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Civil Society
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2. GOB Customs Service "Stays Outside Politics"

On September 16, the State Customs Committee announced
that the GOB has not ordered the Belarusian customs
service to seize propaganda materials in the run up to
the presidential elections. Customs, however, can seize
any item that falls on the list of printed materials
that cannot be brought into Belarus, which include
printed publications that can harm the country.


3. Migration Trends

On September 16, Interior Ministry deputy Sergei Matus
announced statistics on migration trends. Whereas the
GOB granted permanent resident status to 7,000 people
thus far in 2005, 6,500 Belarusian citizens have
emigrated permanently to destinations such as the U.S.,
Germany and Israel. Slightly more than 5,000 Belarusian
citizens leave the country annually to work abroad in
counties like Russia, the U.S., Britain, Belgium and the
Czech Republic.


4. Foreign Spies Active In Belarus

On September 19, the Belarusian KGB accused foreign
intelligence services of undertaking "extremely
aggressive and hysterical work" against Belarus in the
lead up to the 2006 presidential election. The KGB
threatens to expose the work of the spies in order to
prevent Belarusian citizens from being recruited.


5. GOB Does Not Re-register 100 Tourist Companies

On September 21, the Ministry of Sport and Tourism has
cancelled the licenses of over 100 tourist companies in
Belarus. Most of them had not applied for license renewals,
presumably because they did not want to participate in the
government-mandated import of tourists.

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Human Rights
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6. GOB Rejects UN Human Rights Initiatives

On September 19, GOB authorities announced that they
would not cooperate with UN Commission on Human Rights
Special Rapporteur Adrian Severin since they deemed his
appointment to be "unjustified" and his report
"unbalanced and biased." The GOB also opposed the U.S.
proposal to remove countries that do not meet certain
human rights standards from the UN Human Rights Council.
Deputy Foreign Minister Viktor Gaisenok stated that it
gives "countries using the human rights theme to achieve
their own political goals enormous opportunities for
manipulation."


7. Number of Independent Newspapers Decreased

At the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) tenth
anniversary conference on September 16, BAJ lawyer
Mikhail Pastukhov announced the number of independent
newspapers has decreased threefold in the last five
years. He also pointed out that no new periodicals have
appeared during that time and the total number of
periodicals has decreased by 243 in the last two years.


8. Belarus Will Not Prohibit Foreign Broadcasts into Belarus

On September 21, the Ministry of Communication announced it
does not plan to hinder foreign television and radio
broadcasts into Belarus. However, the GOB plans to continue
its long-term strategy to bring "true and unbiased
information about Belarus" to bordering regions in EU member
countries.


9. No State-Sponsored Anti-Semitism Here

On September 15, Israeli Ambassador to Belarus Zeev Ben
Arie stated he does "not consider anti-Semitism a state
phenomena in Belarus." The Ambassador did acknowledge
that isolated manifestations of anti-Semetism do occur
and urged authorities to respond quickly and accurately

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to these incidents.


10. Laid Off Employees Fight Back

On September 15, activists announced plans to form an
association for those who have lost their job as a
result of the GOB's new employment contract system. The
new system makes it easier to dismiss employees from
their jobs. Authorities, however, often misuse the
system as a means to crack down on opposition and
independent trade union activists. The association
plans to hold awareness campaigns, solicit support from
international organizations and create a database of
affected workers.


11. Ethnicity Identification Required for University

Belarusian State University must present lists of
student who identify themselves as Poles or Lithuanians
to the local deans' offices. Although the university
authorities claim this measure satisfies their need for
information on international students at the university,
it is coincidental that they want information on
students from countries with which the GOB has recently
had problems.

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Economics
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12. Raiffeisen to Provide Lukoil-Belarus with USD 20 Million

On September 20, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterrich AG
(Austria) loaned Lukoil-Belarus USD 20 million to finance
supplies of Lukoil crude oil to Belarus refineries. The
agreement was signed at Priorbank OJSC, which is a member of
RZB Group and a subsidiary of Raiffeisen International Bank
Holding.


13. GOB Takes 95% Share in Minsk Porcelain Plant

On September 22, the GOB announced plans to increase its
shareholding in the Minsk Porcelain Plant from 9% to 95%.
Lukashenko recently signed a decree creating an additional
2.6 million shares for government purchase at BYR 500 [USD
0.23] each. In previous cases the GOB would first take over
ownership of a company through the Golden Share before
having the company grant a majority stake to the GOB. This
is the first case where the GOB dispensed with the
intermediate pretense of using the Golden Share.


14. Belarus' Breweries Fear Premium Barley Shortage

The quality of this year's barley crop is lower than last
year, therefore making it difficult to meet the quality beer
production expectations. Homegrown barley cannot supplement
the crop, which means that Belarus will have to import
additional barley to make beer. However, in early September
Lukashenko ordered brewers to only use domestic barley,
claiming there was sufficient quality and quantity.

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Bilateral Relations
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15. Belarus and Iraq to Restore Trade Relations

On September 15 at the UNGA, Lukashenko and Iraqi President
Jalal Talabani agreed to restore bilateral trade and
economic relations. Before Belarus and Iraq suspended trade
relations in 2002, bilateral trade turnover reached USD 30
million. Political scientist Vladimir Ulakovich labeled the
recent negotiations as an "act of courtesy" since he sees
little chance of restored relations, claiming that even
Russia has been ousted from the Iraqi market.

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International Relations
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16. Lukashenko Allows IAEA Inspections

On September 19, Lukashenko issued an edict to allow the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to access
Belarus' nuclear facilities under the Treaty on the Non-
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The IAEA will be able
to conduct inspections to verify the GOB's nuclear
material and use reports.

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Quote of the Week
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17. At the UNGA on September 15, Lukashenko reminisced
about the glory days of the former USSR:

"Fifteen years have passed since the break up of my
country, the USSR. The Soviet Union, despite all the
mistakes and blunders of its leaders, was the source of
hope and support for many states and peoples."


18. On September 20, Lukashenko declared that the
Belarusian opposition would soon find its funding
channels plugged up completely:

"After the [2006] presidential election, there will be
not many grants either for political opposition or so-
called free trade unions. There will no longer be
sponsors around to carry them on their backs."


19. He also warned a pro-government trade union
federation to focus on representing the interest of
workers and not protecting the rights of people:

"If you rush to protect human rights, you will wind up
doing the same [thing] that the political opposition
does."

KROL