EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - July 17, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000740 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EPET EAGR ENRG BO SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - July 17, 2006 MINSK 00000740 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy Minsk. -------------- Political Parties -------------- ¶2. Pro-Lukashenko Communists Proclaim Merger with Opposition Communists On July 15, the leadership of the pro-Lukashenko Communist Party of Belarus (CPB) declared a merger with the opposition Belarusian Party of Communists (BPC) and said that the new party would adopt the CPB's ideology. In a statement issued following CPB's "merger conference" in Minsk, delegates said that the parties had been merged per the "will of most Communists in the country." The controversial conference resulted in the decision to re-register certain grassroots organizations of the BPC as CPB chapters. According to conference organizers, more than 150 CPB delegates and over 70 BPC members attended the conference. BPC Chairman Sergey Kalyakin condemned the merger conference as a staged-managed effort by the government to liquidate the influential opposition party and insisted that the conference had been held in violation of Belarus' Political Parties Law. He noted that only two BPC members had attended the merger conference and that both were expelled from the BPC. Many BPC members reportedly complained that authorities had attempted to coerce them to attend the conference. -------------- Civil Society -------------- ¶3. Former Opposition Candidate Sentenced to Five and a Half years in Prison On July 13, a judge of the Moskovsky District Court sentenced former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin to five and a half years in a medium-security prison. Kozulin was accused of two counts of hooliganism and one count of disturbing the public peace. The public prosecutor demanded a six-year prison sentence for the politician. On the final day of the trial, the judge ordered the courtroom cleared before reading the verdict. ¶4. Police Detain as Many as Forty People Near Russian Embassy On July 16, Belarusian authorities detained as many as 40 people near the Russian Embassy (located next to the American Embassy). The demonstrators intended to focus attention on political repression in Belarus during the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg and to urge Russia to cease its support for the Belarusian regime. Police reportedly detained and beat several demonstrators in buses. Authorities detained United Civic Party leader Anatoly Lebedko and opposition activist Zmitser Barodka. Lebedko could be charged with "minor hooliganism" under Article 156 of Belarus' criminal code. ¶5. Imprisoned Politician Sends Letters Criticizing Parole Denial, Prison Conditions Opposition politician Andrei Klimov, who is serving a "restricted freedom" sentence in the Gomel region, sent open letters to President Lukashenko, Prosecutor General Pyotr Miklashevich, and Justice Minister Viktor Golovanov. Klimov suggests specific measures to improve conditions in barracks for those sentenced to "restricted freedom," criticizes the correctional facility's refusal to parole him, and alleges that the Interior Ministry has violated the law by charging him for living in the correctional institution's barracks. Klimov was sentenced in June 2005 to 18 months of "restricted freedom" for staging an anti-government protest in Minsk. He may leave the barracks for work during daytime with an obligation to report at an appointed time. ¶6. Nearly 400 Students Appeal for Support of Political Victims On July 9, Inna Kulei, the coordinator of a committee for supporting the victims of political repression in Belarus, reported the she has already accepted applications for assistance from about 370 university students who have been expelled or are under threat of expulsion for their political activities. (Note: Most reliable Embassy contacts, including those working with Kulei, dispute Kulei's estimate, asserting that the true number is significantly lower.) According to Kulei, about 30 percent of applicants have not yet been expelled but complain about harassment and pressure by their schools' administrations. She claims that up to five students appeal to the committee every day in connection with problems that they have at their schools because of their opposition political views. MINSK 00000740 002.2 OF 003 ¶7. Taxi Drivers Protest Company Closure On July 14, in protest of the authorities' decision to close taxi company "0-52" and seize its dispatch frequency, between 50 and 100 taxi drivers assembled their vehicles near the ONT television broadcasting building in Minsk and blocked all adjacent roads with their cars. Drivers demanded access to live television to voice their grievances. The GOB decided to close the company, leaving 700 drivers unemployed. Authorities have held 0-52's manager in pre-trial detention for several months under charges of non-payment of taxes. -------------- International Relations -------------- ¶8. DefMin Maltsev To Visit Cuba On July 18, the Belarusian Defense Minister will travel to Cuba on a three-day visit to discuss bilateral military cooperation with with Raul Castro, Cuba's defense chief and brother of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. According to the Belarusian defense ministry's press office, Raul Castro expressed an interest in meeting with Maltsev. ¶9. Belarus, Russia's Kamchatka Province Sign Cooperation Agreement On July 12, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky and Mikhail Mashkovtsev, Governor of Russia's Kamchatka province, signed an agreement on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation following talks held in Minsk on July 10-12. Mashkovtsev said that the provincial administration and the Belarusian government are considering the creation of a joint fishing company that would supply Pacific Ocean fish to Belarus and that Kamchatka would purchase BelAZ dump trucks for coal extraction sites. He reportedly praised the Belarusian authorities for the establishment of an "efficient state system" that increased Belarus' industrial and agricultural potential. ¶10. Court Confiscates Lithuanian Stray Aircraft, Imposes Another Fine on Pilot On July 11, a district court in the Grodno region ordered the confiscation of a Lithuanian aircraft that intruded into Belarusian airspace last month and imposed an additional fine of USD 2,894 on the pilot, Tadas Blazevicius. Blazevicius and his sister Indre illegally crossed the Belarusian border on June 6 in a German-made CTSW light sport plane. A Belarusian Su-25 Frogfoot forced the Lithuanian plane to make a landing at a military airfield 40 kilometers inside Belarus, Grodno region, some 40 kilometers into Belarus. Both Blazevicius and his sister had already paid fines of USD 2,170 after being found guilty on June 13 of illegally crossing the Belarusian border. They were expelled from Belarus on June 14. -------------- Economy -------------- ¶11. Belarusian Authorities Intend to Start Talks with Suppliers of Nuclear Plant Equipment Although the Belarusian authorities have not yet announced a decision on the construction of a nuclear power station, officials have reportedly suggested locating a plant near Krasnopolye in the Bykhov district, Mogilyov region, or near Shklov, Mogilyov region. According to Acting Head of the Nuclear Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergency Management Ministry Vasily Galkovsky, foreign suppliers of nuclear plant equipment, including Russian companies, are prepared to negotiate possible contracts with Belarusian authorities. On July 12, senior Belarusian government officials and experts of Belarus' Sosny power engineering and nuclear research facility met with the head of Russia's Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy (Rosatom) in Moscow to discuss the Belarusian nuclear plant project. ¶12. Finance Ministry Unveils 2007 Draft budget On July 12, First Deputy Minister Anatoly Sverzh told a meeting of the standing Committee on Budget, Finance and Tax Policy in the House of Representatives that the Belarusian Finance Ministry has submitted the 2007 draft budget to the Council of Ministers. Under the draft budget, 4.83 percent of next year's expenditures on law- enforcement and security, 19.38 percent the agricultural sector and the road industry, 4.4 percent for housing construction and maintenance organizations, and 2.55 percent for defense. Spending on healthcare will total 10.42 percent of total government expenditures, a one percent increase over this year. Sverzh said the draft budget is still subject to amendments by the cabinet. -------------- Society -------------- MINSK 00000740 003.2 OF 003 ¶13. Rock Concert to Mark Sixteenth Anniversary of Belarusian Independence Belarusian writer Vladimir Orlov and activists Valentina Svyatskaya and Aleksandr Zhuchkov have applied to the Minsk City Executive Committee for permission to hold a rock concert in Bangalore Square in Minsk on July 27, the anniversary of Belarus' 1990 declaration of Independence. The date had been observed as a national holiday in Belarus until 1996 when the government changed Independence Day to July 3, the day of Minsk's liberation from the Nazis. According to Orlov, the concert would feature prominent Belarusian rock stars. Under municipal regulations, authorities can ban the concert as late as five days before July 27. ¶14. Minivan Owners Hunger Strike in Brest Eleven people in Brest are on hunger strike against an import tax on minivans. Four private minivan owners began the fast on July 5. As of July 12, seven others, including minivan owners and their spouses, joined the hunger protest against fines imposed on them for failing to pay the minivan tax. Economic courts in Brest and Minsk upheld the fines. One hunger striker, Lyubov Rezanovich, told reporters, "We are not against the edict but against its incorrect interpretation. Certain persons want to turn our strike into a political issue. I would like to announce that there is no politics behind." Minivan owners previously held such a strike in September 2005. ¶15. Almost 100 drown in Belarus, Seven in Brest Region in One Day According to Anatoly Golub, chairman of Belarus' national beach patrol organization, OSVOD, announced that 96 people, including 11 under the age of 18, drowned in Belarus over the past week. The largest number, about 25 people, drowned in rivers, lakes, and ponds throughout the Minsk region. Meanwhile, seven people, including one child, drowned in the Brest region on July 11, the highest number of drowning fatalities registered in one day in the region this year. According to OSVOD, most drownings occurred because of intoxication and swimming in unauthorized areas. -------------- Quote of the Week -------------- ¶16. After being sentenced to five and a half years of prison for "hooliganism," former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin declared: "Our country is turning into a penal colony. I have been opposing this system. Today we should aim at freedom for all Belarusian political prisoners, the entire Belarusian nation." KROL