EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - January 5, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000017 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON BO SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - January 5, 2006 Ref: 05 Minsk 1409 ¶1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy Minsk. -------------- Human Rights -------------- ¶2. Independant Pollster Warned for Illegal Polling On December 30, the Prosecutor General's office issued a warning to head of the Independent Institute of Social, Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS) Oleg Manaev for illegally conducting surveys and publishing the results in Belarus. IISEPS, which is no longer officially registered in Belarus, conducted a poll and published its results without first obtaining the proper accreditation from the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences as required by the November 2005 directive (ref). The Prosecutor General's Office threatened administrative charges if IISEPS continues to conduct polls in Belarus. Manaev plans to contest the warning. ¶3. Border Officials Temporarily Seized 27,000 Copies of Narodnaya Volya On January 3, Belarusian anti-smuggling border officials seized the entire January 4 print run - 27,000 issues - of the independent daily newspaper "Narodnaya Volya" over an allegedly fraudulent document that accompanied the shipment. After the Russian printing house confirmed the legality of the shipment on January 4, police released the newspapers. [Note: NV must print its newspapers in Russia after Belarusian state publishing houses refuse to renew printing contracts with the independent newspaper.] ¶4. Amendments to the Criminal Code Go into Effect As of January 1, the amendments to the criminal code that make it a crime punishable by up to three years in prison for discrediting Belarus have come into effect. Despite being marked urgent and hurried through both houses of parliament, Post is not aware of any instances where the amendments have been employed. ¶5. Supreme Court Upheld Belarusian-Polish NGO's Liquidation On December 28, Supreme Court judge Galina Zhukovskaya upheld the previous decision to liquidate the Belarusian-Polish educational organization, Belaruskaya Perspektyva (BP),and ordered BP to pay BYR 150,000 [USD 70] in court fees. The judge stated that BP failed to find a nonresidential legal address and failed to remove the word "Belaruskaya" [Belarusian] from its title as required by Belarusian law. BP claimed that it searched repeatedly for a legal address but decided to halt the operations of its Belarusian branch when it could not find one. ¶6. Dubbed British Movie Not Allowed to Play at State Movie Palace On December 30, the state-run Minsk Children and Youth Palace cancelled the screening of the British movie "Love Actually." The manager claimed the theater could not show the movie - which had been professionally dubbed into Belarusian - because the palace was overbooked. Project coordinator Frank Vyachorka opined that the cancellation was politically motivated and stated that "any initiative, any project that does not come from the state, even a Belarusian-language movie, is considered political dissidence in Belarus." ¶7. Belarusian Language Society Deregistered in Zhodino On January 3, the Zhodino authorities annulled the registration of the Francisak Skaryna Belarusian Language Society (BLS) for failure to eliminate irregularities described in its two previous official warnings, including failure to find a legal address. BLS chairman Ales Lapitsky said that the organization had requested help from the GOB to find a legal address in 1999 but have not received a response to its request. Lapitsky opined that the real reason for BLS's deregistration was the organization's involvement in the presidential campaign. ¶8. Nearly 200 Travel Agencies Not Registered in 2005 On January 4, the Ministry of Sports and Tourism (MOST) announced that it terminated the licenses of 198 tour operators in 2005. The MOST cited lack of properly trained personnel and failure to meet mandatory inbound tourist requirements as the main reasons why the firms lost their licenses. Presently there are 570 tour operators in Belarus. -------------- Economics -------------- MINSK 00000017 002.2 OF 003 ¶9. Little Money In, Little Money Out On December 27, Minsk Transit Bank senior manager Dmitri Borisenok announced that the volume of incoming money transfers has declined in Belarus to the point where it almost matches outgoing money transfers. Borisenok stated that in countries with economies similar to Belarus, incoming money transfers should far outpace outgoing money transfers. He cited restrictions on the receipt and use of foreign aid - like USD 400 limits and two-week waiting period to receive money from abroad - as the main reason for the low volume on incoming money transfers. ¶10. Industrial Stock Sits in Warehouses According to the Ministry of Statistics' December 30 announcement, Belarus' production of goods has outpaced demand for them. Overstock of Belarusian industrial production has increased 28 percent from January to November. As of December 1, 58 percent of all industrial goods produced in Belarus were overstock, with no ready buyers. This stock is valued at BYR 2.223 trillion [USD 1.03 billion]. The large amount of unsold goods is a result of Lukashenko pressing for full employment and high production output without focusing on who will consume the finished goods. -------------- Civil Society -------------- ¶11. Lukashenko Appoints Oil Friend Honorary Consul On December 30, the Belarusian ambassador to Russia named Igor Markov, the president of Russia's oil and gas trader Itera, Belarus' honorary consul in Russia. Markov's duties would include developing bilateral contacts in various political and economic spheres. [Note: Markov is a long time friend of Lukashenko and his company supplied cheap natural gas to Belarus until Gazprom forced Itera out. Markov has invited at least two U.S. codels to Belarus without Post's knowledge to meet Lukashenko under the guise of fixing U.S.-Belarusian relations. In those instances, the GOB has used the visits as a propaganda tool.] ¶12. Presidential Administration Shake Up On January 4, Lukashenko appointed former state secretary of the Security Council Gennady Nevyglas as the head of the Presidential Administration. Former chairman of the Supreme Certification Commission Anatoly Rubinov will be Nevyglas' deputy. Former Presidential Administration head Viktor Sheiman will now run Lukashenko's campaign for the March presidential elections. ¶13. Fighting Corruption in the GOB On January 5, authorities arrested deputy director from truck production company "Belaz" for allegedly using his position to steal USD 154,000 under the guise of conducting research and development of trucking equipment. On the same day, the Minister of Health was arrested for allegedly accepting a USD 7,000 bribe in return for arranging job placements. These arrests come months after Lukashenko announced the GOB's tougher stance on corruption and the lower house of Parliament ratified a bill for the Civil Law Convention on Corruption in December 2005. -------------- Bilateral Relations -------------- ¶14. Taiwan Closes Representative Office in Belarus On January 4, the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affiars (MOFA) announced that it will close its trade representative office in Belarus immediately. The decision was prompted by Belarus' opposition to Taiwain's participation in international organizations such as the UN and the WHO. [Note: During his December trip to Beijing, Lukashenko openly supported the one China policy.] Taiwan's representative office in Moscow will cover trade issues with Belarus. ¶15. Zimbabwe Wants Belarusian Imports On December 29, Moscow-based Zimbabwean ambassador announced his country's intention to start importing Belarusian trucks, tractors and agricultural equipment. The ambassador would also like to hire Belarusian contractors for road construction and to have Belarusian schools train experts on multiple deposits of natural resources. Belarusian ambassador to Russia welcomed MINSK 00000017 003.2 OF 003 closer economic and trade relations with Zimbabwe. -------------- Information and Technology -------------- ¶16. Belarus Steals Google Homepage On January 4, internet search provider Google promised to investigate legal steps to address a Belarusian web page that has stolen the Google name and logo. Google representatives have stated "this site (www.google.by) is not owned operated or controlled by Google." Google discovered the copied web page, which can be located at www.google.by, when "Googlophiles" reported a "Google" homepage with text advertisements on the side. [Note: Official Google homepages are free of advertisements.] -------------- Quote of the Week -------------- ¶17. On December 30, Lukashenko told journalists that he will not change Belarus' foreign policy course and listed allies and cooperating partners: "Russia is our reliable ally....We also have powerful partners, such as the EU and the USA, China and India." KROL