EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - September 14, 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000786 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - September 14, 2007 ¶1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy Minsk. TABLE OF CONTENTS Civil Society -------------- - Opposition Leader Jailed and Fined (para. 2) - Three Activists Receive Jail Sentences (para. 3) - GOB Introduces Residential Registration (para. 4) - Soligorsk Miners Hold Twenty-Four Hour Strike (para. 5) - Religious Leaders Discuss Freedom of Conscience (para. 6) - Supreme Court Denies Labor Group Registration (para. 7) Domestic Economy -------------- - GOB Adopts New Energy Plan (para. 8) International Trade -------------- - GOB Grants New Seafood Import Licenses (para. 9) - Reserve Cigarette Import Quotas Distributed(para. 10) - Quote of the Week (para. 11) -------------- Civil Society -------------- ¶2. Opposition Leader Jailed and Fined A Baranovichi District Court judge sentenced opposition leader and Belarus Christian Democracy Co-Chairperson Pavel Severinets to 17 days in jail and a fine of 620,000 rubles (USD 290) on September 10. Severinets was convicted of disorderly conduct and participating in an unauthorized demonstration. Police detained Severinets at the Baranovichi District Courthouse where he joined a demonstration in support of a Malady Front member standing trial on criminal charges. Also detained and released were a Radio Liberty reporter, France Press and Reuters photo correspondents, and an independent local journalist. ¶3. Three Activists Receive Jail Sentences An Orsha District Court Judge sentenced Belarusian Christian Democracy co-chair Denis Sadovsky to five days in jail on September ¶10. Sadovsky and other activists, including prominent dissident artist Ales Pushkin and youth activist Aleksey Yanushevsky, were arrested on September 8 near Orsha where the opposition was set to hold a music festival to celebrate the anniversary of a medieval battle. Pushkin and Yanushevsky were tried behind closed doors, found guilty of petty hooliganism, and sentenced to seven days in jail after being accused of throwing a state flag out of the window of the Orsha district police station. Pushkin admitted his sole guilt of disrespect to official state symbols, but demanded to be tried under the criminal code, asked for the release of Yanushevsky, and has reportedly begun a hunger strike. ¶4. GOB Introduces Residential Registration President Lukashenko signed an edict on September 10 to abolish Soviet-era resident permits and to introduce a new residential registration system starting next year. Under the old law, resident permits were mandatory and were necessary in order to obtain employment in the area of residence. The new regulations increase the mandated living space per capita - 20 square meters in Minsk and 15 square meters elsewhere in Belarus. The edict also increases controls over foreign residents, allowing for official visits to homes to confirm claimed residency. ¶5. Soligorsk Miners Hold Twenty-Four Hour Strike On September 9, miners and underground servicemen of the Soligorsk potash fertilizer factory Belaruskali held a 24-hour preventive strike. According to Independnet Miners' Trade Union Head Vassily Nikityuk, employees were protesting significant cuts of social and retirement benefits for working in hazardous conditions. Nikityuk says the factory's administration assured the miners they would look into the issue, but the miners are prepared to strike indefinitely if the GOB does not meet their demands. ¶6. Religious Leaders Discuss Freedom of Conscience Twenty Protestant pastors and civil society activists convened a meeting on September 7 to discuss their ongoing Campaign for Advocating Religious Freedom Rights. New Life Church (NLC) Lawyer Sergey Lukanin stated that activists had collected over 27,000 MINSK 00000786 002 OF 002 signatures appealing to the Constitutional Court to challenge the controversial and restrictive 2002 religion law. Meeting participants also voted for closer cooperation with other Christian communities, and to reach a goal of 50,000 signatures by the end of November 2007. The group also adopted an agenda for raising awareness of religious freedom violations and legal impediments to worship. ¶7. Supreme Court Denies Labor Group Registration The Supreme Court on September 10 denied an appeal filed by a group of trade union and opposition activists pushing for labor laws and regulations changes. The group sought registration with the Central Election Commission (CEC) in order to launch a signature collection campaign to initiate a referendum abolishing employees' obligation to sign fixed-term labor contracts. The CEC refused registration in June 2007 citing insufficient attendance at the group's founding conference on May 1. The group's head, Gennady Fedynich, maintained that the court's denial was expected, and the group would file a case with the UN Human Rights Council. -------------- Domestic Economy -------------- ¶8. GOB Adopts New Energy Plan The Presidential Administration announced on September 11 the GOB's new energy plan, which envisages a reduction of imported Russian natural gas from 80 percent to 50 percent of total domestic energy consumption. According to the plan, Belarus will continue to diversify energy and fuel sources by importing oil and gas from the Caspian region, Iran, Venezuela, sourcing coal from Ukraine and Poland, and building three new coal-fired power plants. The GOB also plans to increase fuel oil reserves by constructing gas storage facilities. The plan assumes energy consumption will increase by 30 percent by 2020. -------------- International Trade -------------- ¶9. GOB Grants New Seafood Import Licenses The Presidential Administration announced on September 7 that 29 Belarusian companies received licenses to import fish and seafood in ¶2007. The number of grantees fell from 62 last year. Fourteen importers account for 84 percent of all supplies in 2006. Currently licensed companies will be able to import fish until October 1, 2007, while the new licensees will start importing seafood as soon as they receive their certificates. President Lukashenko personally approved the list of authorized companies. ¶10. Reserve Cigarette Import Quotas Distributed The government of Belarus has increased the cigarette import quota for 2007, granting Belarustorg under the Presidential Administration an additional 67 million cigarettes and British-American Tobacco Trading Company an additional 30 million. The new quota now stands at 1.5 billion-cigarettes for the year. Belarus' overall annual consumption of cigarettes is estimated between 16 and 18 billion. Under the March 23, 2007 trade agreement with Russia, Belarus is set to abolish the tobacco import quotas by October 1, 2007. -------------- ¶11. Quote of the Week -------------- Well-known Belarusian lawyer and a leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Gramada) Igor Rynkevich, supporting the European March to be held this October: "For centuries since the times of the Grand Lithuanian Duchy, Belarus has been a part of European Civilization... [W]hen at the beginning of the nineties Belarus had the chance to construct its future on the basis of fast integration into Europe I believed that it was possible in the shortest period of time. But then we were thrown aside and finally turned into the European Cuba." Stewart