Russian Printing Press Stops Producing Independent

UNCLAS MINSK 000287 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS KIEV FOR USAID E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV BO SUBJECT: Russian Printing Press Stops Producing Independent Belarusian Newspapers Ref: 2005 Minsk 1193 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED: PROTECT ACCORDINGLY ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Smolensk Printing Plant annulled its contracts with independent newspapers Narodnaya Volya (NV),BDG Gazeta, and the democratic Communist Party of Belarus' Tovarishch on March 13, citing an overwhelming workload. The plant director later stated that the annulments were due to the papers' failure to pay their debts and their opposition activities. Editors of the newspapers consider the move politically motivated and believe the GOB found a way to influence Smolensk authorities. The Smolensk Printing Plant had long been a haven for Belarus' independent media, much of which is no longer allowed to print in Belarus. Sergey Kalyakin, campaign manager for Ten Plus Coalition presidential candidate Aleksandr Milinkevich and leader of the Communist Party of Belarus, told Pol/Econ Chief on March 15 he will likely be able to print his party's newspaper in Moscow. End Summary. ¶2. (U) On March 13, independent news sources reported that the Smolensk (Russia) Printing Plant annulled its printing contracts with three of Belarus' leading independent newspapers Narodnaya Volya (NV),BDG Delovaya Gazeta, and the democratic Communist Party of Belarus' Tovarishch. Director of the Smolensk Printing Plant Anatoly Guchev cited the papers' failure to pay as a reason for the annulment of the contracts. However, he later said that the decision was due to other economic and political reasons. Guchev claimed that the papers were paying with "someone else's money" and his plant did not want to be involved in the newspapers' "political games." He allegedly did not understand why licensed Belarusian newspapers were printing in Russia and stated that he would not allow his printing plant to be used for an "election struggle." According to Guchev, if the papers broke Belarusian law, then the Belarusian Information Ministry should strip them of their licenses. ¶3. (SBU) On March 14, deputy editor of NV Svetlana Kalinkina told Poloffs that the printing plant told them it was annulling the contracts because the plant was "overwhelmed" with work and did not have sufficient capacities to keep printing NV. The plant gave BDG and Tovarishch the same reasons, leading Kalinkina to believe that the printing press was acting under instructions from Smolensk authorities. Kalinkina told Emboffs on March 15 that although she found another printing company in Smolensk that was willing to print her newspaper, Belarusian security forces seized the entire print run Q 27,000 copies Q when the newspapers were brought across the border into Belarus in the evening of March 14. ¶4. (U) Editor of BDG Petr Martsev and editor of Tovarishch Sergey Voznyak called the incident "completely unexpected," politically motivated, and a sign that Russians were trying to "play it safe." Martsev admitted his paper did not always pay the printing plant on time, but the plant had always been patient and more than likely was afraid that BDG would not have money to pay its bills after the elections. Voznyak said his paper had no outstanding debts with the printing plant and posited that the GOB had found a way to influence the Smolensk authorities. Voznyak plans to sue the Smolensk Printing Plant for annulling a contract without official warning and without agreement from both parties. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: Ten Plus Coalition campaign manager and Communist Party of Belarus leader Sergey Kalyakin told Pol/Econ Chief on March 15 his party's paper Tovarishch will likely be able to print in Moscow, but he noted the Smolensk contract annulment was a setback to the Ten Plus Coalition's information campaign. This latest incident is just one in a series of measures taken by the GOB to limit the public's access to independent information. In December and January, the state-owned newspaper stand monopoly and post office Belpochta refused to sell and distribute dozens of independent newspapers (reftel). On March 3, authorities seized a 250,000-copy print-run of NV and on March 14 authorities seized another NV print-run. Political activists are arrested and sometimes charged with transporting, distributing, or even possessing independent newspapers. The recent contract annulments with Smolensk are a serious setback, as the printing plant was the best alternative for these papers due to its proximity and the open border with Russia. KROL