Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MINSK671
2006-06-23 12:21:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Minsk
Cable title:  

EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - June 23, 2006

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM ETRD 
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DE RUEHSK #0671/01 1741221
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R 231221Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4599
INFO RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY COOPERATION IN EUROPE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000671 

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ETRD
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - June 23, 2006


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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000671

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ETRD
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - June 23, 2006


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1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by
Embassy Minsk.

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International Relations
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2. State Weekly Says Belarus Should Freeze Opposition U.S.
Accounts

On June 22, BelTA correspondent Viktor Lovgach wrote in the pro-
government weekly "Seven Dnei" (Seven Days) that Alexander
Lukashenko and his aides do not have accounts in U.S. banks and the
US leadership simply ridicules itself with "menacing" statements
about freezing Belarusian accounts. Lovgach suggested that in
response Belarusian leadership should freeze the accounts of
Belarusian opposition members who regularly travel to Washington.
In an adjacent article, an unidentified author implied that several
former leaders of corrupt regimes still have assets in US banks.
For example, the author claimed that the former president of
Philippines Ferdinand Marcos still resides in the United States and
has about USD 10 billion U.S. accounts. [Note: Marcos died in
1989.]


3. Belarusian and Russian Lawmakers Concerned about Funding of
Union State Security Programs

On June 21, at a meeting in northern Belarus, a standing committee
of the Belarusian-Russian Parliamentary Assembly expressed concern
about inadequate funding for joint security and anti-crime
programs. Russia's representative on the Committee on Security,
Defense and Crime Prevention, Valery Bykov, said that financing has
decreased because the countries failed to propose new programs.
According to Bykov, Belarus and Russia were supposed to provide 260
million Russian rubles for security and crime prevention programs
in 2006 but actual funding shrunk from 31.5 to 8.4 percent of the
total Belarus-Russian union budget. Bykov also said that the
Parliamentary Assembly should adopt a statement at its plenary
meeting in connection with a planned gas-price hike for Belarus.
Bykov explained, "I consider it is important for both Belarus and
Russia. We should at least express our attitude to the issue or
stop playing these games and declare that Belarus and Russia go
their separate ways."


4. Belarus Recognizes Montenegro

On June 21, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced that Belarus

recognizes Montenegro. The foreign office expressed "respect for
the friendly Slavic state and hope for the development of mutually
beneficial cooperation." Montenegro declared independence from
Serbia early this month following its referendum on May 21.

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Civil Society
--------------


5. Belarus Opposition Activist Jailed For 3 Years for Slandering
Lukashenko

A Belarusian court sentenced opposition activist Nikolai Razumov to
three years in jail for slandering President Alexander Lukashenko.
During the presidential campaign of opposition candidate Alexander
Milinkevich, Razumov said that Lukashenko was involved in the
disappearance of opposition politicians Viktor Gonchar, Anatoly
Krasovsky, and Yuri Zakharenko. Razumov has been in jail since
March 14.

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Opposition Coalition
--------------


6. Opposition Leaders discuss threats to Belarus' independence
with officials in Brussels

On June 21, following a meeting in Brussels with European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Belarusian opposition
leader Aleksandr Milinkevich told reporters that the EU and the
United States should declare any Belarusian referendum on a
proposed state union with Russia to be illegal and described such a
referendum as a threat to Belarusian independence. Milinkevich
also called upon the Belarusian government to release 17 political
prisoners thrown in jail after the March election protests.
Milinkevich and Vintsuk Vyachorka, leader of the Belarusian Popular
Front, also met with several EU committee chairs to discuss
possible projects to support civil society in Belarus.


7. Belarusian Party of Communists Seek More Consolidation of
Opposition Forces

On June 18, the Central Committee of the Belarusian Party of
Communists (BPC) announced that BPC's principal goals are the

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further consolidation of opposition forces and strengthening the
role of the left wing of the opposition alliance. BPC leader
Sergei Kalyakin asserted that the nationwide opposition campaign
led by Aleksandr Milinkevich failed to set specific goals and
strategies. Kalyakin criticized an attempt to merge the BPC with
the pro-government Communist Party of Belarus (CPB) as stage-
managed by the Lukashenko government. CPB Central Committee
Secretary Georgy Atamanov urged the BPC send representatives to a

SIPDIS
July 15 conference on the merger. However, BPC to leaders
threatened to expel from the party all members participating in the
conference. The Central Committee also ordered BPC chapters to
prepare for local elections tentatively scheduled for January 14,

2007.

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Economy
--------------


8. Belarus' Oil Product Export Prices Up 40.5 Percent on Year

On June 22, an official with Belarus' Statistics Ministry
reportedly told Prime-Tass that Belarus' average contract prices of
oil product exports rose 40.5 percent on the year between January
and April to USD 424 per ton and that average contract prices of
crude oil imports increased 49.3 percent to USD 258 per ton. The
prices of oil products exports to the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) reached USD 533 per ton, an increase of 41.4 percent
on the year between January and April, and prices of oil products
exports to foreign non-CIS countries rose to USD 419 per ton, up 39
percent on the year. Oil imports from Russia rose 19.4 percent to
7.304 million tons. Belarus exported 5.181 million tons of oil
products between January and April, a rise of 11.4 percent.
Exports to the CIS countries jumped nine times to 224,200 tons,
while exports to non-CIS countries reached 4.957 million tons, up
9.1 percent.



9. Statistics Ministry claims 32,000 small enterprises in Belarus

The Belarusian Statistics Ministry announced that the number of
small enterprises shrank to 32,400 on April 1 from 33,000 at the
end of 2005. The small business sector reportedly employed around
379,500 people. According to the Economic Ministry, small
businesses accounted for six percent of the country's total
industrial output, 11.3 percent of the retail turnover, 14.1
percent of exports, and 31.6 percent of imports. Small business'
share in domestic sales was 19.1 percent. About 41 percent of all
small enterprises were engaged in trade and food services, 23.5
percent in industrial production, 12.3 percent in construction, 5.5
percent in transport services, and one percent in farming. Half of
all small enterprises are based in Minsk and 11.5 percent in the
Minsk region. About 182,000 businesses were sole proprietorships
as of May 1, 2006, an increase of 4,092 since the beginning of the
year. According to the Belarusian government, small enterprises
paid 200 billion rubels in taxes since January 1.


10. Belarus To Increase Shipment of Potash Fertilizers through
Klaipeda Port

On June 20, during the second Belarusian-Lithuanian economic forum,
Belarusian Potassium Company's Deputy Director General for
Logistics, Sergei Sobol, announced Belarus is ready to transship at
least 1.8 million tons of potash fertilizers through the Klaipeda
seaport. Sobol noted that about 1.3 million tons of fertilizer
were exported through Klaipeda last year. According to Sobol,
Belarus and Lithuania are interested in expanding cooperation
between the Klaipeda port and Belarusian Potassium Company and that
Belarus requested Lithuania to discount tariffs for Belarusian
cargos.

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Society
--------------


11. Belarusian Lawmaker Opposes Longer School Program

The chair of the Standing Committee on International Affairs and
National Security, Nikolai Cherginets, urged the government to
reconsider its decision to institute a twelve-year school education
program on the grounds that longer curricula would be onerous for
young women. Under the new program schoolchildren would begin
school at six or seven years of age and finish at 18 or 19.
Cherginets cited statistical data suggesting that up to 25 percent
of Belarusian women aged 18 or 19 are married and asked members of
Belarus' parliament, "How will pregnant schoolgirls endure the
heavy stress of graduation tests, how will they take university
admission exams? General education was a twelve-year program
during the Soviet era but was extended to 11 years in the early
1990s.


12. Government Bans Sale of Beer to Persons Under 18

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On June 17, a directive adopted by the Belarusian Council of
Ministers banned the sale of beer and other low-alcohol drinks to
persons under 18 years of age. Issued in March, the directive also
prohibits the sale of such beverages in educational and healthcare
institutions, theaters, industrial companies' buildings,
governmental agencies, construction sites, sports facilities,
filling stations, mobile retail outlets and vending machines. The
Health Ministry proposed the ban two years ago to curb the growing
use of alcohol among teenagers.

--------------
Quote of the Week
--------------


13. Belarus' MFA Press Secretary Andrei Popov offered this comment
on the US Presidential Executive Order authorizing the Secretary of
the Treasury to designate and freeze property of Belarusian
President Alexander Lukashenko in the United States:

"It is no news for us. The United States obviously continues the
policy of disseminating false information about Belarus. This is
why we confirm the proposal put forward earlier by the president of
Belarus to donate these alleged funds, if found, of course, for the
needs of disadvantaged U.S. citizens."

KROL