Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MINSK771
2007-09-07 13:39:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Minsk
Cable title:
EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
how-toVZCZCXRO1214 RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHSK #0771/01 2501339 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 071339Z SEP 07 FM AMEMBASSY MINSK TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6465 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY COOPERATION IN EUROPE RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000771
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
REF: MINSK 754
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000771
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
REF: MINSK 754
1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy
Minsk.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Civil Society
--------------
- Pro-GOB Youth Union Reports on Successes (para. 2)
- Opposition Leaders Harassed in Brest (para. 3)
- Opposition Youth Sentenced to Jail and Fines (para. 4)
- Free-Lancers Warned over Reporting for Foreign Radio (para. 5)
- Uzbek Trafficker Arrested in Kobrin (para. 6)
- Judge Dismisses Reports Church Hearing Scheduled (para. 7)
Domestic Economy
--------------
- IMF: Higher Energy Prices to Impact Belarus' Economy (para. 8)
International Trade
--------------
- Russia's Slavneft Resumes Oil Supplies to Belarus (para. 9)
- Belarus Bans Food Imports from Russian Region (para. 10)
- Quote of the Week (para. 11)
--------------
Civil Society
--------------
2. Pro-GOB Youth Union Reports on Successes
Belarusian National Youth Union (BNYU) Head Leonid Kovalyov said at
a press conference on September 4 that the BNYU's membership had
increased from 30,000 to 430,000 people since its establishment in
2002. He also noted that the main goal of "mobilizing youths'
initiative for the good of Belarusian society" has been achieved as
the BNYU focuses on specific deeds, activities, and results.
Kovalyov claimed that 780 BNYU personnel assisted 135,000 people in
five years in finding employment, and that organization's income in
2007 will top USD 300,000 due to such profitable businesses as a
radio station and a travel agency.
3. Opposition Leaders Harassed in Brest
Police detained United Civic Party Head Anatoly Lebedko, Acting
Chairperson of the Belarusian Social-Democratic Party "Gramada"
Anatoly Levkovich, and Belarusian Party of Communists Leader Sergey
Kalyakin for about an hour in Brest on August 31. The police
blocked their vehicle and forced it to pull over for an ID check.
Lebedko and Kalyakin also claimed that upon returning from Brest
they discovered their car's wheel had been tampered with. The three
party chairs came to Brest to meet with the local opposition
leaders, market vendors, deliver foodstuff to jailed democratic
leader Pavel Severinets, and to attend trials of civil society
activists arrested at the meeting with Severinets on August 19.
4. Opposition Youth Sentenced to Jail and Fines
On September 5, a Soligorsk district court judge sentenced two
opposition youth activists, Ales Kalita and Lyudmila Otokulova, to
seven days in jail. Six other activists received fines ranging from
USD 58 to 72. The court found them guilty of disturbing public
peace and violating demonstration procedures when the youth
protested at the trial of local Malady Front leader Ivan Shilo on
September 4 (reftel). All the activists spent a night at the
detention center.
5. Free-Lancers Warned over Reporting for Foreign Radio
Two Grodno independent journalists, Natalya Makushina and Yan Roman,
were summoned to district prosecutor's office on September 3 to
receive warnings over violations of media accreditation
requirements. The prosecutor accused Makushina, reporter for
Polish-based Radio Racja, and Roman, reporter for German Deutsche
Welle, of writing "biased" articles hurting Belarus' image abroad.
Makushina told the media that the prosecutor failed to provide any
evidence of contacts with foreign radio stations and only produced
copies of her articles from various internet sites. The Foreign
Ministry's spokesperson said that the two reporters never applied
for accreditation.
6. Uzbek Trafficker Arrested in Kobrin
An Uzbek woman was arrested in the southwestern city of Kobrin on
September 1 on suspicion of recruiting Belarusian women in Belarus
for sexual exploitation in Moscow. The police detained the 37-year
MINSK 00000771 002 OF 002
old woman at a railroad station with three Belarusian women of 19
and 20 years of age, whom she was allegedly planning to take to
brothels in Moscow. Police opened a criminal case against the
woman, whom reportedly had never been charged with trafficking
before.
7. Judge Dismisses Reports Church Hearing Scheduled
On September 5, Supreme Court judge Elena Korotkevich dismissed
reports that the new hearings on the New Life Church (NLC) were set
to resume in September. The Minsk authorities informed the NLC in a
letter that, according to court's secretariat, the hearings would be
scheduled in September. NLC Legal Expert Sergey Lukanin said that
it was news to Korotkevich. She explained that the court would not
be reviewing the case any time in the near future. The NLC is
appealing the forced sale of its property to the state.
--------------
Domestic Economy
--------------
8. IMF: Higher Energy Prices to Impact Belarus' Economy
The International Monetary Fund issued a report predicting a 10-15
percent cumulative GDP loss for Belarus through 2012 due to
increasing energy prices, with up to a five percent decrease in 2007
alone. The IMF report notes that the recent positive economic
climate in Belarus -- a growing economy and declining inflation --
is primarily due to the subsidized prices for Russian oil and gas.
The IMF also reports that the Belarusian currency is overvalued by
approximately ten percent.
--------------
International Trade
--------------
9. Russia's Slavneft Resumes Oil Supplies to Belarus
Russia's Slavneft has resumed crude oil supplies to Belarus in a
deal allowing the company further processing and sales rights in
Belarus' domestic market. The company will resume supplies with a
monthly volume of 200,000 tons, much of which will be used as
gasoline and diesel for its own filling stations in Belarus.
Currently, Belarus subsidizes 90 percent of the cost of Russian
export duties on crude supplied to Belarus, an incentive not
sufficient to attract Russian traders. Russia discounts the export
duty by 71.7 percent for crude destined to CIS countries compared to
other markets.
10. Belarus Bans Food Imports from Russian Region
On September 5, Belarus' Agriculture Ministry suspended issuing
authorizations for food imports from Russia's Krasnodar region. The
ministry cited the recent outbreak of bird flu in that province as
the reason for the move. Belarus' imports from Krasnodar mostly
consist of limited quantities of grain and forage. In the past,
Belarus has suspended food imports from 19 countries -- including
France, Germany and the Czech Republic. Normally, such bans are
lifted six months after the last instance of bird flu has been
detected.
--------------
11. Quote of the Week
--------------
The prosecutor in the case of Malady Front activist Ivan Shilo told
the court that the state did not single out the youth because of his
political beliefs. To support his argument that the prosecution was
not politically motivated, the prosecutor claimed that the GOB
"would even prosecute a member of an unregistered organization of
hamster lovers."
Stewart
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
REF: MINSK 754
1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy
Minsk.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Civil Society
--------------
- Pro-GOB Youth Union Reports on Successes (para. 2)
- Opposition Leaders Harassed in Brest (para. 3)
- Opposition Youth Sentenced to Jail and Fines (para. 4)
- Free-Lancers Warned over Reporting for Foreign Radio (para. 5)
- Uzbek Trafficker Arrested in Kobrin (para. 6)
- Judge Dismisses Reports Church Hearing Scheduled (para. 7)
Domestic Economy
--------------
- IMF: Higher Energy Prices to Impact Belarus' Economy (para. 8)
International Trade
--------------
- Russia's Slavneft Resumes Oil Supplies to Belarus (para. 9)
- Belarus Bans Food Imports from Russian Region (para. 10)
- Quote of the Week (para. 11)
--------------
Civil Society
--------------
2. Pro-GOB Youth Union Reports on Successes
Belarusian National Youth Union (BNYU) Head Leonid Kovalyov said at
a press conference on September 4 that the BNYU's membership had
increased from 30,000 to 430,000 people since its establishment in
2002. He also noted that the main goal of "mobilizing youths'
initiative for the good of Belarusian society" has been achieved as
the BNYU focuses on specific deeds, activities, and results.
Kovalyov claimed that 780 BNYU personnel assisted 135,000 people in
five years in finding employment, and that organization's income in
2007 will top USD 300,000 due to such profitable businesses as a
radio station and a travel agency.
3. Opposition Leaders Harassed in Brest
Police detained United Civic Party Head Anatoly Lebedko, Acting
Chairperson of the Belarusian Social-Democratic Party "Gramada"
Anatoly Levkovich, and Belarusian Party of Communists Leader Sergey
Kalyakin for about an hour in Brest on August 31. The police
blocked their vehicle and forced it to pull over for an ID check.
Lebedko and Kalyakin also claimed that upon returning from Brest
they discovered their car's wheel had been tampered with. The three
party chairs came to Brest to meet with the local opposition
leaders, market vendors, deliver foodstuff to jailed democratic
leader Pavel Severinets, and to attend trials of civil society
activists arrested at the meeting with Severinets on August 19.
4. Opposition Youth Sentenced to Jail and Fines
On September 5, a Soligorsk district court judge sentenced two
opposition youth activists, Ales Kalita and Lyudmila Otokulova, to
seven days in jail. Six other activists received fines ranging from
USD 58 to 72. The court found them guilty of disturbing public
peace and violating demonstration procedures when the youth
protested at the trial of local Malady Front leader Ivan Shilo on
September 4 (reftel). All the activists spent a night at the
detention center.
5. Free-Lancers Warned over Reporting for Foreign Radio
Two Grodno independent journalists, Natalya Makushina and Yan Roman,
were summoned to district prosecutor's office on September 3 to
receive warnings over violations of media accreditation
requirements. The prosecutor accused Makushina, reporter for
Polish-based Radio Racja, and Roman, reporter for German Deutsche
Welle, of writing "biased" articles hurting Belarus' image abroad.
Makushina told the media that the prosecutor failed to provide any
evidence of contacts with foreign radio stations and only produced
copies of her articles from various internet sites. The Foreign
Ministry's spokesperson said that the two reporters never applied
for accreditation.
6. Uzbek Trafficker Arrested in Kobrin
An Uzbek woman was arrested in the southwestern city of Kobrin on
September 1 on suspicion of recruiting Belarusian women in Belarus
for sexual exploitation in Moscow. The police detained the 37-year
MINSK 00000771 002 OF 002
old woman at a railroad station with three Belarusian women of 19
and 20 years of age, whom she was allegedly planning to take to
brothels in Moscow. Police opened a criminal case against the
woman, whom reportedly had never been charged with trafficking
before.
7. Judge Dismisses Reports Church Hearing Scheduled
On September 5, Supreme Court judge Elena Korotkevich dismissed
reports that the new hearings on the New Life Church (NLC) were set
to resume in September. The Minsk authorities informed the NLC in a
letter that, according to court's secretariat, the hearings would be
scheduled in September. NLC Legal Expert Sergey Lukanin said that
it was news to Korotkevich. She explained that the court would not
be reviewing the case any time in the near future. The NLC is
appealing the forced sale of its property to the state.
--------------
Domestic Economy
--------------
8. IMF: Higher Energy Prices to Impact Belarus' Economy
The International Monetary Fund issued a report predicting a 10-15
percent cumulative GDP loss for Belarus through 2012 due to
increasing energy prices, with up to a five percent decrease in 2007
alone. The IMF report notes that the recent positive economic
climate in Belarus -- a growing economy and declining inflation --
is primarily due to the subsidized prices for Russian oil and gas.
The IMF also reports that the Belarusian currency is overvalued by
approximately ten percent.
--------------
International Trade
--------------
9. Russia's Slavneft Resumes Oil Supplies to Belarus
Russia's Slavneft has resumed crude oil supplies to Belarus in a
deal allowing the company further processing and sales rights in
Belarus' domestic market. The company will resume supplies with a
monthly volume of 200,000 tons, much of which will be used as
gasoline and diesel for its own filling stations in Belarus.
Currently, Belarus subsidizes 90 percent of the cost of Russian
export duties on crude supplied to Belarus, an incentive not
sufficient to attract Russian traders. Russia discounts the export
duty by 71.7 percent for crude destined to CIS countries compared to
other markets.
10. Belarus Bans Food Imports from Russian Region
On September 5, Belarus' Agriculture Ministry suspended issuing
authorizations for food imports from Russia's Krasnodar region. The
ministry cited the recent outbreak of bird flu in that province as
the reason for the move. Belarus' imports from Krasnodar mostly
consist of limited quantities of grain and forage. In the past,
Belarus has suspended food imports from 19 countries -- including
France, Germany and the Czech Republic. Normally, such bans are
lifted six months after the last instance of bird flu has been
detected.
--------------
11. Quote of the Week
--------------
The prosecutor in the case of Malady Front activist Ivan Shilo told
the court that the state did not single out the youth because of his
political beliefs. To support his argument that the prosecution was
not politically motivated, the prosecutor claimed that the GOB
"would even prosecute a member of an unregistered organization of
hamster lovers."
Stewart