EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - October 05, 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000849 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - October 05, 2007 ¶1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy Minsk. TABLE OF CONTENTS Civil Society -------------- - Opposition Protests Social Benefits Cuts (para. 2) - Jailed Opposition Leader's Daughter Fired (para. 3) - Parliament's Lower House Elects New Speaker (para. 4) - Local Business Leader Fined (para. 5) - Prosecutor Scolds Journalists for Tarnishing Belarus (para. 6) - Market Vendors across Belarus Strike (para. 7) - Copies of Independent Publications Stopped at Border (para. 8) - Activists Establish Chernobyl Support Center (para. 9) International Relations -------------- - GOB: UAE Strategic Partner and Ally (para. 10) Domestic Economy -------------- - Belarus' Retail Trade Up 16.5 Percent (para. 11) International Trade -------------- - Trade with CIS Up 24 Percent (para. 12) - Quote of the Week (para. 13) -------------- Civil Society -------------- ¶2. Opposition Protests Social Benefits Cuts On September 30 over 1,100 pro-democracy activists in 50 cities distributed leaflets and collected signatures urging the restoration of slashed social benefits. Organizers had requested permission for 458 pickets, but authorities only granted permission for three; one in Brest and two in Novogrudok. Police reportedly raided the apartments of organizers, including United Civic Party Chairperson Anatoly Lebedko and Party of Communists of Belarus Leader Sergey Kalyakin. Police detained Kalyakin's deputy Valery Ukhnalyov and other party members for passing out copies of the party's newspaper "Tovarishch" in central Minsk. They were released a short time later. ¶3. Jailed Opposition Leader's Daughter Fired On September 27, following pressure from authorities, managers dismissed the daughter of imprisoned opposition leader Aleksandr Kozulin from her job. Olga Kozulina was fired as deputy director of the legal and human resources department at a private company on the pretext of unauthorized absences. Kozulina countered that she had been absent, but had informed the general manager and even asked for leave without pay. She had not received her salary for four months. ¶4. Parliament's Lower House Elects New Speaker Members of the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament, elected Vadim Popov as speaker by secret ballot on October 2. Popov received 94 votes, while Sergey Gaydukevich received 5. The new speaker succeeds Vladimir Konoplyov who resigned September 11 reportedly for health reasons. Popov previously held this position from 2000 to 2004. ¶5. Local Business Leader Fined A Soligorsk judge levied a USD 15 fine against local business leader Aleksandr Tsetsuro for disturbing public order and violating procedures for organizing mass events. The sentence followed Tsetsuro's frequent requests to hold protests in Soligorsk. He is a SIPDIS member of the Movement for Free Development of Entrepreneurship and had been involved in preparations for a demonstration against social benefit cuts on September 30 and small business strikes on October ¶2. ¶6. Prosecutor Scolds Journalists for Tarnishing Belarus The prosecutor in Grodno summoned two independent journalists and threatened them with legal action for "working without accreditation" and for "bringing the international image of Belarus into disrepute," following the publication of articles on local MINSK 00000849 002 OF 003 police negligence. The reporters, correspondents for Polish-based "Radio Racyja," received warnings that they could be prosecuted for working as correspondents without state accreditation. ¶7. Market Vendors across Belarus Strike As many as 30,000 market vendors across Belarus reportedly walked off the job in a one-day strike on October 2. The vendors were protesting President Lukashenko's new regulations banning sole entrepreneurs from hiring workers other than three family members starting January 1, 2008. The strike included vendors in thirteen cities. ¶8. Copies of Independent Publications Stopped at Border On October 3, Belarusian border guards detained a truck containing thousands of copies of two independent newspapers "Narodnaya Volya" and "Tovarishch." The truck was entering Belarus from Smolensk, Russia, where the publications are produced. After inspecting the truck for three hours, police released the driver and papers. The editor of "Tovarishch" suggested that the police were looking for documentation to use as a pretext for seizing the whole print-run of the newspapers. On September 27, authorities seized 14,000 copies of the "Tovarishch" in Minsk, and there has been no word whether they will be released. ¶9. Activists Establish Chernobyl Support Center On September 29, over 50 regional civil society activists held the founding conference for the Center for Support of Chernobyl Initiatives. Attendees elected Ivan Nikitchenko, a prominent scientist and Chernobyl nuclear researcher to head the NGO. The Center will monitor the aftermath of the incident, assist victims, carry out educational projects, publish materials about nuclear power plants and their impact on health and environment, and organize seminars, conferences and public discussions. International Relations -------------- ¶10. GOB: UAE Strategic Partner and Ally Although ties remain close with Iran, President Lukashenko has characterized the United Arab Emirates as Belarus' key strategic partner and ally in the Persian Gulf. On October 1, the parties signed an intergovernmental protocol of collaboration, an MOU with Minsk City government on real estate, and an MOU between Belarus' military electronics manufacturer Peleng and Al Yah Satellite Communications Company. This follows a March 2007 agreement to establish an intergovernmental group to implement joint projects in petrochemical, military, power engineering, and satellite technologies. Actual trade between Belarus and the UAE is minimal: it expanded 153 percent on the year in January-July to an official total of USD 6.38 million. Belarus' exports rose 230 percent to USD 6 million, while imports declined 44.9 percent to USD 400,000. Belarus' main exports have been powdered milk, oil products, tires and bearings. -------------- Domestic Economy -------------- ¶11. Belarus' Retail Trade Up 16.5 Percent Belarus' Statistics Ministry reported that retail trade increased 16.5 percent on the year. Non-food products made up 48 percent of spending compared to 46 percent last year. Belarusian-made products accounted for 85.4 percent of food spending and 66 percent of non-food spending. Private businesses accounted for 82 percent of retail sales. -------------- International Trade -------------- ¶12. Trade with CIS Up 24 Percent Belarus' trade with the CIS member countries from January through July 2007 totaled USD 15.6 billion, an increase of 24 percent over the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economics. Exports to Russia rose by 28.8 percent to USD 4.6 billion with imports increasing by 18.7 percent to USD 8.7 billion. -------------- ¶13. Quote of the Week -------------- Deputy Economics Minister Andrey Tur, on the superlative investment environment in Belarus: MINSK 00000849 003 OF 003 "If entrepreneurs are having trouble, they should change their business model.... Yesterday at the ministry we discussed vegetable storehouses. I have a friend -- a teacher and lawyer -- who has constructed such a storehouse. He invests five cents per carrot, and when the season comes, he can sell them for who knows how much." Moore