BELARUS: WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - May 30, 2008

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000418 AMEMBASSY MINSK SENDS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO SUBJECT: BELARUS: WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - May 30, 2008 ¶1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy Minsk. TABLE OF CONTENTS Civil Society -------------- - Grodno Opposition Leader Warned Over A Concert (para. 2) - Radio Racyja Journalist Denied Accreditation (para. 3) - Human Rights Activist Fined and Jailed (para. 4) - Malady Front Leader Fined And Jailed In Absentia (para. 5) - Opposition Youth To Serve Parole Sentences (para. 6) Domestic Economy -------------- - Lukashenko Wants More Economic Cooperation Within CIS (para. 7) - Belarus Seeks to Increase Energy Efficiency of its GDP (para. 8) International Trade -------------- - Belarus Enjoys Higher Demand And Prices On Potassium Fertilizers (para. 9) - Belarus' Government Wants Fewer "Non-Critical" Imports (para. 10) Quote of the Week (para. 11) -------------- -------------- Civil Society -------------- ¶2. Grodno Opposition Leader Warned Over A Concert Grodno United Civic Party (UCP) branch leader Yuriy Istomin received an official warning for "violating fire safety regulations" from the Ministry of Emergency Situations on May 23. The Ministry first fined Istomin 1,050,000 rubles (USD 490) for organizing a concert of a Polish band at the UCP offices, but later withdrew the fine. Istomin called the charges "politically motivated" noting the Ministry of Emergency Situations serves as "a punitive agency." ¶3. Radio Racyja Journalist Denied Accreditation The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on May 28 informed Aleksey Minchyonok, an independent "Radio Racyja" journalist, that he would not be accredited in Belarus. His accreditation was reportedly denied due to "earlier illegal work for a foreign media without proper accreditation." Minchyonok filed the re-accreditation application in the wake of numerous police searches of offices of Belarus-based foreign media in March 2008. He plans to appeal the decision. ¶4. Human Rights Activist Fined and Jailed A Vitebsk district court sentenced human rights advocate Pavel Levinov to 10 days in jail and fined him 700,000 rubles (USD 330) on May 23. Police detained Levinov on March 27 and charged him with disobeying orders and using obscenities. Levinov called the sentence "far-fetched" and filed an appeal. �0A; ¶5. Malady Front Leader Fined And Jailed In Absentia On May 23, Malady Front (MF) leader Zmitser Fedaruk received official notification that he was sentenced in absentia May 12 to 10 days in jail and a 1,050,000 ruble (USD 490) fine. Fedaruk was convicted of participation in a May Day rally and disobeying police orders during his detention. The activist dismissed the charges, noting that he only learned of the sentence after the 10-day appeal period had expired. ¶6. Opposition Youth to Serve "Restricted Freedom" Sentences On May 27, a Minsk district court sentenced opposition youth Pavel Vinogradov and Mikhail Suboch to two years and minor Maksim Dashuk to 18 months of "restricted freedom." The activists were found guilty of participating in the unsanctioned entrepreneurs' protest on January 10. The verdict followed convictions on similar criminal charges against seven other adults and two opposition youth. They were sentenced on April 22 to 2-years of "khimiya," a form of house arrest, and fined 3,500,000 rubles (USD 1,640),respectively. -------------- Domestic Economy -------------- ¶7. Lukashenko Wants More Economic Cooperation Within CIS Speaking at the Council of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) VILNIUS 00000418 002 OF 002 Ministers in Minsk May 23, Lukashenko advocated more economic cooperation within the CIS. He believes that transportation, transit services and energy are the sectors on which the CIS should focus on developing cooperation, in the hopes of producing a China-Russia-Europe transportation corridor. Lukashenko also advocated the idea of a CIS common energy market, urging energy producers to give transit countries access to production, refinery and transportation infrastructure for oil, gas and electricity bound for the third countries. ¶8. Belarus Seeks To Increase Energy Efficiency of its GDP An unnamed official from Belarus' Energy Ministry told Prime-TASS news service May 28 that the country lags behind the world's industrially developed states in energy efficiency of its GDP. In an effort to reduce its energy efficiency shortfalls, Lukashenko tasked the GOB was tasked to build a nuclear power plant, upgrade major industries and burn more locally-available fuel. The official noted that per capita consumption of energy resources in Belarus is 1.7 times lower than in the EU and 3.3 times lower than in the U.S. -------------- International Trade -------------- ¶9. Belarus Enjoys Higher Demand and Prices For Potassium Fertilizers According to the Presidential Press Service, Lukashenko praised the Belarusian Potash Company May 22 for "leading the world" in sales of potassium fertilizers. Established in 2006, the company is comprised of two share-holder companies, Belaruskaliy and Uralkaliy, major manufacturers of such fertilizers in Belarus and Russia. Lukashenko stated that the company successfully replaced an intricate network of middlemen, allowing Belarus to earn more than USD 3 billion in 2008. Four years ago, the sale of the same volume of fertilizers yielded only one-fourth of that sum. ¶10. GOB Wants Fewer "Non-Critical" Imports The Prime-Tass news agency reported that Prime Minister Sidorskiy staunchly criticized the GOB, particularly the Ministry of Industry, on May 27 for its insufficient efforts to reduce imports and attract foreign investment in the first quarter of 2008. Seeking to reduce the country's trade deficit from USD 2.7 billion in 2007 to USD 1.4 billion this year, the GOB has been routinely obliged to reduce "non critical" imports, products which can be "easily" produced in Belarus. Sidorskiy mentioned imports of apples and pears totaling USD 12 million, chocolate and confectionery (USD 15 million) and household appliances (USD 23 million). He urged the government to upgrade its local factories and/or build new ones to cancel out such imports. -------------- Quote of the Week -------------- ¶11. Speaking on May 27 to Antonia Maria Costa, Deputy Secretary General of the UN, Lukashenko said: "We would like the leaders of European countries to pay tribute to the Belarusian State for the contribution it makes to ensure the security of the peoples of Europe by counteracting terror and trafficking in drugs, arms and radioactive materials." MOORE CLOUD