EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - April 18, 2008

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000261 SIPDIS AMEMBASSY MINSK SENDS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG KCRM BO SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - April 18, 2008 ¶1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy Minsk. TABLE OF CONTENTS Civil Society -------------- - Vitebsk Opposition Activists Fined and Detained (para. 2) - Independent Journalist Jailed (para. 3) - Internet Child Porn Ring Members Arrested (para. 4) - Activists Pray for Return of Monastery (para. 5) - Activist Fined for Protest against Chemical Plant (para. 6) - Soligorsk Malady Front Members Fined Heavily (para. 7) Domestic Economy -------------- - Decree Issued to Promote Investment (para. 8) - Belarus to Reform Telecoms to Meet WTO Requirements (para. 9) International Trade -------------- - Priorbank Financed 20 Percent of 2007 Crude Imports (para. 10) - Belneftekhim Needs USD 6 Billion in Investment (para. 11) Quote of the Week (para. 12) -------------- -------------- Civil Society -------------- ¶2. Vitebsk Opposition Activists Fined and Detained Police detained opposition youths Yuliya Mikhailova and Viktoriya and Kristina Chizh in central Vitebsk April 16. Activists gathered to demonstrate in solidarity with imprisoned opposition members Aleksandr Kozulin, Andrey Kim, and Sergey Parsyukevich. Police ordered the demonstrators to disperse and apprehended the three youths, releasing them four hours later without charges. In a separate incident, prominent Vitebsk-based opposition activist Boris Khomayda was fined BYR 175,000 (USD 82) April 11 for distribution of independent printed media. The police arrested Khomayda March 14 and seized copies of the independent newspapers "Nasha Niva" and "Narodnaya Volya." ¶3. Independent Journalist Jailed A Minsk district court sentenced independent Borisov-based journalist Anatoliy Udovichenko April 15 to two weeks in jail for distribution of illegal leaflets. Police arrested Udovichenko the previous day in central Minsk and charged him with violating regulations governing mass events. Udovichenko was allegedly passing out leaflets urging individuals to attend a demonstration set for April 26 to mark the anniversary of the Chernobyl tragedy. ¶4. Internet Child Porn Ring Members Arrested Counter-Cyber Crime Department Deputy Director Andrey Miklashevich informed the media April 11 that three organizers of a child pornography ring were arrested in Belarus in early 2008 on charges of distribution of pornographic material. The ring operated via the internet and provided access to over 270 child pornography websites. Miklashevich added that the department opened its investigation in June 2007 and that more than 10 suspects had already been questioned. He also noted that police confiscated a database with users' credit card information and commended the FBI's assistance in collecting evidence to investigate the case. ¶5. Activists Pray for Return of Monastery Over 100 activists gathered on the steps of the former Bernardine monastery in central Minsk April 14 to pray for the return of the building to the St. Joseph Catholic community and to protest its conversion into a hotel and entertainment center. They lit candles, read prayers, and sang religious hymns for about an hour. Police observed the gathering, but no one was detained and the activists dispersed without incident. ¶6. Activist Fined for Protest against Chemical Plant A Maryina Gorka regional court sentenced Druzhniy resident Sergey Obrazovskiy to a BYR 1.4 million (USD 655) fine April 11 for organizing a rally there. Over 500 Druzhniy residents gathered March 22 to protest the scheduled construction of a chemical VILNIUS 00000261 002 OF 002 manufacturing and fertilizer recycling plant near the town. The activist asserted that the authorities randomly arrested him as a scapegoat for protests, and that residents will launch another signature-collecting campaign to petition the Council of Ministers to halt the plant's construction. An appeal previously sent to Aleksandr Lukashenko received no reply. ¶7. Soligorsk Malady Front Members Fined Heavily On April 11 a Soligorsk district police panel for juvenile delinquency fined under-aged Malady Front (MF) members Ivan Shilo and Kristina Samoilova BYR 1,050,000 (USD 490) and Andrey Tychina BYR 700,000 (USD 330) for participating in an unsanctioned rally in Soligorsk March 2 to protest social benefits cuts. Shilo and Samoilova received additional fines, together with MF activist Grigoriy Ostapenya, for holding an unauthorized demonstration March 25 to celebrate the Belarusian People's Republic's 90th anniversary. Shilo's father also received a BYR 525,000 (USD 245) fine for his son's "poor behavior." -------------- Domestic Economy -------------- ¶8. Decree Issued to Promote Investment Aleksandr Lukashenko signed Edict 204 on April 14 allowing companies to reduce reported taxable profit in order to redirect funds towards investment in government-approved projects. The edict, which comes into effect retroactively starting January 1, 2008, reverses the rule that forced businesses to use post-tax profits for investment. The edict applies only to investment in housing construction and repayment of bank loans issued for investment purposes. ¶9. Belarus to Reform Telecoms to Meet WTO Requirements The Ministry of Telecommunications announced April 15 that it is committed to further reform the country's telecommunications industry to ensure greater competition and compliance with WTO requirements. State-owned Beltelecom is scheduled to lose its monopoly on transmitting internet traffic and its exclusive access to fixed-line telephony when Belarus' law on electronic communication is amended some time in autumn this year. -------------- International Trade -------------- ¶10. Priorbank Financed 20 Percent of 2007 Crude Imports According to Yelena Shishenko, a senior official of Belarus' private Priorbank, her institution financed 20 percent of the country's crude oil imports in 2007. Shishenko made the announcement at an international conference on Belarus' oil and chemical industries in Minsk April 11. Priorbank issued USD 1.7 billion worth of loans to Belarus' two oil refineries and other businesses that procure Russian crude oil for Belarus. The current lending mechanism provides for banks to finance 80 percent of the cost and clients to pay 20 percent using oil and petroleum products as collateral. ¶11. Belneftekhim Needs USD 6 Billion in Investment Belneftekhim official Viktor Plotnikov announced at the conference noted above that the company and its subsidiaries plan to secure a total of USD 430 million in foreign investment in 2008. He added that Belneftekhim currently has over 80 reconstruction and upgrade projects planned and will require more than USD 6 billion in investment by 2010. Investment in the petrochemical industry as a whole should exceed USD 1.54 billion in 2008, an increase of 25 percent from 2007. -------------- ¶12. Quote of the Week -------------- Aleksandr Lukashenko at a roundtable on educational reform, on why basic education should revert to the Soviet eleven-year system, from the current twelve-year model: How is it that educators on the one hand can talk about accelerated educational development for students, but on the other hand keep 17- and 18-year old young people behind school desks? Seriously, it's already time for 18- and 19-year-old girls to start giving birth, and that's what they're already doing in your schools anyway. Moore Leader