BELARUS WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - DECEMBER 05, 2008

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000247 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO SUBJECT: BELARUS WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - DECEMBER 05, 2008 MINSK 00000247 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy Minsk. TABLE OF CONTENTS Civil Society -------------- - Entrepreneurs' Leader Charged with Petty Theft (para. 2) - Mogilyov Oblast Residents Protest Nuclear Plans (para. 3) - Opposition Youth Sentenced to One Year of "Khimiya" (para. 4) - Opposition Youth Dispersed, Briefly Detained (para. 5) - Police Detain Democratic Activists on International Human Rights Day (para. 6) - Activists Banned from Travel Appeal to Lukashenka (para. 7) - Arts Professor Dismissed for Cooperation with Free Theater (para. 8) Domestic Economy -------------- - Gold and Hard Currency Reserves Decreased Through November by 9.7 Percent (para. 9) - Official Unemployment Rate Falling (para. 10) Foreign Trade -------------- - GOB Seeks to Preserve Traditional Markets by Allowing Loss-Making Sales (para. 11) - GOB Hopes the U.S. Will Unblock Multilateral Talks on Belarus' WTO Accession (para. 12) - Latest Statistics on Foreign Trade (para. 13) Quote of the Week (para. 14) -------------- -------------- Civil Society -------------- ¶2. Entrepreneurs Leader Charged with Petty Theft On December 5, Anatoliy Shumchenko, leader of the small business association Perspektiva, received a subpoena summoning him to a trial on December 17. Shumchenko has been charged with petty theft for allegedly stealing a bottle of vinegar from a grocery store in Minsk on November 17. The activist dismissed the charges as "fabricated" and linked his trial to the upcoming entrepreneurs' demonstrations scheduled for December 15 and authorities' efforts to intimidate him. ¶3. Mogilyov Oblast Residents Protest Nuclear Plans Independent media reported on December 8 that a group of local residents has collected over 4,000 signatures protesting the possible construction of a nuclear power plant at a site near the town of Gorki in the Mogilyov Oblast. The petition urges the GOB to drop nuclear energy development plans, calls for the expanded use of "safe" alternative energy technologies and highlights the Chernobyl disaster and the massive devastation it caused for the region. ¶4. Opposition Youth Sentenced to One Year of "Khimiya" 
A Minsk district court sentenced December 9 Alyaksandr Barazenka to one year of "restricted freedom" or "khimiya," to be served at home. The opposition youth was charged with actively participating in a mass entrepreneurs' demonstration on January 10, 2008, that had severely violated public order. Barazenka announced that he will appeal the verdict. He also expressed gratitude to supporters who have staged numerous protests across Belarus and outside the courthouse. Former political prisoner Andrey Kim was beaten, receiving minor facial injuries, during a demonstration on December 8. ¶5. Opposition Youth Dispersed, Briefly Detained On December 6, riot police violently dispersed a group of opposition youth demonstrating in support of Alyaksandr Barazenka in central Minsk. Five activists were briefly detained, and all but Ekaterina Solovyova were released without charges. Solovyova was accused of allegedly beating a police officer and may face criminal charges after an investigation. The activist asserted that she only defended herself during a violent arrest. ¶6. Police Detain Democratic Activists on International Human Rights Day Approximately 30 human rights and opposition activists were briefly detained across Belarus on December 10. Riot forces violently dispersed a protest and detained six human rights MINSK 00000247 002.2 OF 003 advocates and 12 Maladaya Belarus and Belarusian Popular Front youth group members in downtown Minsk as they handed out copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and demonstrated to mark Human Rights Day. Police also apprehended four Malady Front members in Brest and Kobryn for posting white-red-white flags. Brief detentions of human rights lawyers were also reported in Mogilyov and Grodno. All were released without charge. ¶7. Travel Banned Opposition Appeals to Lukashenka Five opposition activists, including United Civic Party Chair Anatoliy Lebedko and Malady Front leader Zmitser Dashkevich, who are banned from traveling abroad for politically-motivated reasons, delivered an appeal to the Presidential Administration on December 10. According to Lebedko, the activists were told to prepare a separate statement addressed personally to President Lukashenka. ¶8. Arts Professor Dismissed over Cooperation with Free Theater Human rights portals reported on December 11 that prominent Belarusian Arts Academy professor Andrey Kolyada was dismissed for his purported connections with the underground Free Theater. Kolyada, an expert on theater arts and a Belarusian translator, allegedly cooperated with the Theater and translated a collection of young Belarusian playwrights' works entitled Generation Jeans into the Belarusian language. -------------- Domestic Economy -------------- ¶9. Gold and Hard Currency Reserves Decreased Through November by 9.7 Percent According to official statistics released December 5, Belarus' gold and hard currency reserves decreased through November by 9.7 percent to a total of USD 3.7 billion. In August through November 2008, the reserves dropped by 8.4 percent. In 2007, Belarus' gold and hard currency reserves tripled to USD 4.2 billion. ¶10. Official Unemployment Rate Falling According to the data publicized by the National Statistics Committee on December 5, unemployment in Belarus decreased through October by 12.7 percent to 38,500 people. As of November 1, the unemployment rate was 0.8 percent. The official report admits that 2 percent of employed persons had to work shorter working days and weeks in the first three quarters of the year. The monthly allowance paid to an unemployed person in October was less than USD 20, while the average salary in the country was equal to about USD 450. The majority of unemployed persons are women - 62 percent, and people under the age of 30 - 43 percent. -------------- Foreign Trade -------------- ¶11. GOB Seeks to Preserve Traditional Markets by Allowing Loss-Making Sales On December 1, the government issued a resolution to allow Belarusian enterprises to sell their products in foreign markets below cost if and when necessary to preserve their market share. The government will grant permission on a case by case basis and will require a thorough justification by enterprises wishing to take such measures. Prime Minister Sidorsky told the GOB on December 9 that the major task in a time of crisis is to keep the country's industrial and agricultural producers robust. He said that with prices of energy and raw materials plummeting, it was imperative that they must reduce costs and remain profitable. ¶12. GOB Hopes USG Will Unblock Multilateral Talks on WTO Accession Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Yevdochenko told the Lower House of Parliament's Commission on International Affairs on December 10 that the GOB hopes the U.S. will unlock multilateral negotiations on Belarus' WTO accession. He said that with a new administration in Washington D.C. along with ongoing improvement of U.S.-Belarus relations, he hopes that negotiations will resume early next year after a three-year hold. ¶13. Latest Statistics on Foreign Trade On December 11, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Yevdochenko briefed Economic and Commercial officers of foreign embassies in Minsk on the country's foreign trade situation. The volume of foreign trade increased through October by 51.6 percent to USD MINSK 00000247 003.2 OF 003 63.6 billion. Exports grew 52 percent to USD 29.4 billion, while imports grew 51.3 percent to USD 34.2 billion. Belarus' major trade partners are Russia, USD 34.3 billion (47.3 percent growth) and the EU, USD 20.5 billion (50 percent growth). In July through October, Belarus' total exports have reduced each month by USD 130 million (4-5 percent) on average. Exports to Russia and Ukraine were hit most, while exports to the EU and the CIS steadily rose. -------------- Quote of the Week -------------- ¶14. On December 11, Lukashenka received the outgoing Italian Ambassador . He thanked the Ambassador for his contribution to the improvement of EU-Belarus relations and said: "We play no games [with the EU]. This is not in our interest. We are open in our relations with the EU, and we truly want to completely normalize our relations, if the EU wants that . . . We make no conditions, though we have quite a few issues in our relations not only with the EU but with some other countries also." SAVAGE