Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MINSK938
2006-08-28 11:33:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Minsk
Cable title:  

EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - AUGUST 28, 2006

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EPET EAGR ENRG KTDB BO 
pdf how-to read a cable
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R 281133Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4993
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 000938 

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EPET EAGR ENRG KTDB BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - AUGUST 28, 2006


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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000938

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EPET EAGR ENRG KTDB BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - AUGUST 28, 2006


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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
--------------
- Lawmaker Calls Union State Act 99 Percent Ready (para. 2)
- CSTO Consultations on Military Training (para. 3)

LOCAL ELECTIONS
--------------
- Opposition Parties in Gomel Sign Cooperation Accord (para. 4)

CIVIL SOCIETY
--------------
- Youth Sentenced to Four Days in Jail for Demonstration (para. 5)
- Border Guards Apprehend Families on Religious Retreat (para. 6)
- Activists Again Petition BKGB over Neo-Nazism (para. 7)
- Anonymous CD on Protests Circulating throughout Minsk (para. 8)

TRADE AND INVESTMENT
--------------
- Belarus Reports USD 9.27 Billion in Trade with Russia (para. 9)

DOMESTIC ECONOMICS
--------------
- Belarus' Pipelines Report Almost 50 Percent Profits (para. 10)
- Banks Raise Interest Rates on Corporate Deposits (para. 11)

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK (para. 12)

--------------
International Relations
--------------



2. Belarusian Lawmaker Calls Union State Act 99 Percent Ready

On August 24, Nikolay Cherginets, chairman of the Committee on
International Affairs and National Security in the Council of
Republic of the Belarusian National Assembly, characterized the
draft Constitutional Act of the Belarusian-Russian Union State as
"99 percent ready." Cherginets was hopeful that Presidents
Lukashenko and Putin would approve the draft and that both Russia
and Belarus would hold national referenda to adopt the act.
However, Cherginets conceded the two sides still could not agree
whether a Union President or the Supreme State Council would govern
the Union State.



3. Belarusian Delegation Attends CSTO Talks on Military Training

On August 17, a delegation from the Belarusian Defense Ministry
attended consultations on personnel training in the Collective

Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) held in Moscow. The
consultations followed up a 2005 agreement on the creation of a
single system of joint CSTO training and draft regulations
governing cooperation between CSTO members in military staff
training. The CSTO defense ministers previously approved a list of
60 military schools that will train cadets from CSTO countries,
which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Russian military schools train about
1,000 cadets from other CSTO states each year. Approximately 800
receive full or partial tuition waivers.

--------------
Local Elections
--------------


4. Opposition Parties in Gomel Sign Cooperation Accord

On August 23, the Gomel region chapters of the opposition United
Civic Party (UCP),the Belarusian Party of Communists (BPC),the
Belarusian Popular Front (BNF),the Belarusian Social Democratic
Party "Gramada" (BSDP),and several pro-democracy organizations,
including the Independent Union of Electronics Industry Workers,
signed a cooperation agreement for local elections scheduled for
January 14. The agreement provides for cooperation in selecting
and training candidates, sharing information and legal support, and
joint election monitoring. Earlier this summer, opposition parties
signed similar agreements in Grodno, Brest, Mogilev, and Vitebsk
regions. Approximately 24,000 seats on more than 1,600 municipal
councils throughout Belarus will be open to challenge in the
upcoming elections.

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


5. Youth Sentenced to Four Days in Jail for Demonstration

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On August 24, a Minsk district court sentenced opposition youth
activist Yuliya Goryachko to four days in jail and fined five
others between USD 290 and 420 after finding them guilty of
participating in an unsanctioned demonstration under Article 167 of
the Administrative Offenses Code. On August 23, a group of
opposition youth activists gathered near the Tsentralny district
police station in Minsk for what they called "making friends with
police officers." Two youths attempted to give policemen booklets
while others were holding candles. Two other youth activists
failed to appear at the hearing.


6. Border Guards Apprehend Children, Parents on Religious Retreat

On August 9, Belarusian border guards took into custody and
transported to Minsk 47 children and their parents, all Baptist
church members who were on retreat at a private homestead in the
western Grodno region. The previous day, the local authorities had
ordered the gathering to disperse and threatened to take the
children to a police juvenile facility. Head of the Minsk City
Executive Committee Department for Religious and Ethnic Communities
Alla Ryabitseva has conceded that the retreat was legal since
private individuals organized the event. One of the parents, Igor
Biskupsky, has already collected 20 signatures to complain to the
Minsk and Grodno governments about the psychological trauma caused
to the children.


7. Civil Society Activists Again Petition BKGB over Neo-Nazism

On August 22, participants at public hearings on the crimes of
Stalinism in Belarus decided to renew their petition to the BKGB to
raise awareness of the revival of Nazism. A group of Belarusian
students, retirees, journalists, historians, and former political
prisoners sent their first petition to the BKGB in May to condemn
vandalism at the Kurapaty Stalin-era massacre site near Minsk, the
memorial of Belarusian writer Vladimir Korotkevich in Vitebsk, and
a mosque in the western city of Slonim and to express their concern
about the authorities' failure to respond to the spread of swastika
graffiti. Belarusian historian Yakov Basin reported he received a
reply from the Prosecutor General's Office on August 4 stating the
Prosecutor General is considering the group's petition.



8. Anonymous CD on Protests Circulating throughout Minsk

On August 24, independent media reported the grassroots
distribution of an anonymous multi-media CD containing video
footage and photographs of post-March election opposition protests
in Minsk's Oktyabrskaya Square. Called "Open Air Revolution," the
CD also features local and foreign media reports about young
opposition supporters who camped out in Minsk's central square
between March 19 and 24. The anonymous creators of the CD describe
the demonstration as a "round-the-clock extreme party in cramped
facilities" marked by "excellent self-organization." They describe
the demonstrations not only as protests against President
Lukashenko's fraudulent re-election on March 19 but also a "social
conflict between riot police officers and their peers" and a
"revolution in the minds of young Belarusians." Police dispersed
the encampment in a pre-dawn raid and arrested hundreds of
demonstrators, most of whom received jail terms of 15 days.

--------------
Trade and Investment
--------------


9. Belarus Reports USD 9.27 Billion in Trade with Russia

On August 18, the Belarusian Economics Ministry reported that
Belarusian-Russian trade totaled USD 9.3 billion in the first six
months of 2006. Belarusian exports reportedly rose by USD 409.7
million on the year to USD 3.1 billion and imports by USD 1.9
billion to USD 6.2 billion. Belarus' export of tractors increased
by USD 70.6 million, trucks by USD 39.8 million, tires by USD 25.3
million, auto and tractor parts by USD 17.6 million and combustion
engines by USD 10.7 million. Increased energy purchases drove up
imports. For example, imports of oil and gas jumped by USD 1.2
billion, an increase of 70.8 percent. Belarusian trade with
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries amounted to USD
11 billion during January to June, of which trade with Russia
accounted for 87.4 percent. On the year, Belarusian exports to the
CIS increased by 17.5 percent to USD 3.8 billion and imports by
43.1 percent to USD 6.9 billion.

--------------
Domestic Economy
--------------


10. Belarus' Pipelines Report Almost 50 Percent Profits

On August 24, the Belarusian Ministry of Statistics and Analysis
reported that natural gas transportation through Belarus' pipeline

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system rose 6.6 percent on the year from January to July to 39.1
billion cubic meters. During that period, Belarus' natural gas
imports increased 5.4 percent to 12.1 billion cubic meters. Gas
transit via Belarus' pipelines increased 7.1 percent on the year to
27 billion cubic meters. Russian gas transit via Belarus'
pipelines to Poland accounted for 70 percent of the total. Gas
transit to Ukraine and Lithuania made up 20 percent and 8 percent,
respectively. Gas transit to Kaliningrad Region accounted for the
remaining two percent. Belarus' pipeline companies reported
profits of 49.1 percent from January to June 2006, down from 61.5
percent in the period in 2005.


11. Belarusian Banks Raise Interest Rates on Corporate Deposits

On August 24, the National Bank of Belarus announced Belarusian
banks raised the average interest rates on corporate short-term and
long-term deposits in Belarusian rubles to 7.8 percent in July from
7.2 percent in January and to 10.2 percent in July from 9.6 percent
in January, respectively. Meanwhile, interest rates on corporate
long-term loans in hard currency increased to 8.5 percent from 6.4
percent. Interest rates on corporate short-term deposits in hard
currency, however, dropped to 5.3 percent in July from 6.1 percent
in January. Belarusian ruble deposits of domestic companies
amounted to 3.205 trillion rubles (USD 1.4 billion) as of August 1,
up 14.9 percent from January 1. Hard currency deposits increased
24.4 percent to USD 1.3 billion.

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


12. When asked about the distribution of an anonymous multi-media
CD containing video footage and photographs of post-election
opposition protests at Minsk's Oktyabrskaya Square, opposition
youth leader Dmitriy Dashkevich told independent media:

"The protests have shaken up the sluggish life of the Belarusian
society. I am sure that not only underground materials but also
certain paragraphs of Belarus' modern history will soon feature
this brave act by the Belarusian youths. The country saw the
emergence of a new political elite consisting of youths who are
free from the burden of the Soviet legacy and, unlike the older
generation, are prepared to self-sacrifice for their ideals and
Belarus."

Moore