Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09MINSK172
2009-06-08 09:22:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Minsk
Cable title:
BELARUS BI-WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - JUNE 6, 2009
how-toVZCZCXRO2833 RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHSK #0172/01 1590922 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 080922Z JUN 09 FM AMEMBASSY MINSK TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0283 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUEHSK/AMEMBASSY MINSK 0287
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000172
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON BO
SUBJECT: BELARUS BI-WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - JUNE 6, 2009
MINSK 00000172 001.2 OF 002
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000172
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON BO
SUBJECT: BELARUS BI-WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - JUNE 6, 2009
MINSK 00000172 001.2 OF 002
1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by
Embassy Minsk.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Civil Society
--------------
- Malady Front Activist Fined (para. 2)
- Human Rights Group Denied Registration (para. 3)
- Prosecutors Extend Criminal Investigation against Volkovysk
Activists (para. 4)
Domestic Economy
--------------
- GOB to Increase VAT (para. 5)
- Belarus May Receive IMF's Second Tranche Later this Month
(para. 6)
- Belarus and Russia Sign Agreement on Nuclear Energy (para. 7)
Quote of the Week (para. 8)
--------------
--------------
Civil Society
--------------
2. Malady Front Activist Fined
On May 26, Soligorsk authorities fined underage local MF member
Iliya Shyla $625 in absentia. Shyla photographed and observed a
May 5 demonstration "School for All" staged by the MF activists
in downtown Soligorsk in support of his forcefully conscripted
brother Ivan Shyla, expelled from school before his final
graduation exam in June 2008. Iliya Shyla will appeal the fine
to court insisting that the charges were "far-fetched".
3. Human Rights Group Denied Registration
The Justice Ministry denied May 28 the prominent human rights
group Nasha Vyasna its third registration application. The
Ministry alleged that the NGO's name was not "consistent" with
stated purposes and that group's founders and leaders were
previously convicted on numerous administrative charges.
Justice officials also stated that the human rights lawyers
"impeded" their ability to verify registration documents.
4. Prosecutors Extend Criminal Investigation against Volkovysk
Activists
On June 2, Minsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office extended until July
3 criminal investigations against Volkovysk activists Nikolay
Avtukhovich, Yuriy Leonov and Vladimir Osipenko. Human rights
advocates continue to express their concerns over the activists
being held in custody and police neither interrogating them to
conclude investigations nor filing their cases to court.
Avtukhovich -- like Leonov, a former political prisoner -- has
been on a hunger strike since April 16 and has reportedly lost
25 kilograms.
--------------
Domestic Economy
--------------
5. GOB to Increase VAT
According to media reports, the GOB will soon increase VAT from
18 to 22 percent. While intended to increase GOB revenue,
regime officials claim that the increase will not result in
higher prices on consumer goods, and will rather help reduce
consumer imports and boost exports.
6. Belarus May Receive IMF's Second Tranche Later this Month
The IMF permanent representative in Belarus Natalia Kolyadina
told Prime-TASS news agency June 1 that the IMF and the GOB
experts have successfully resolved almost all outstanding issues
during the IMF's mission to Minsk in April-May. This will allow
the IMF to complete its review by the end of June and issue the
second tranche of USD 400 million under the IMF's USD 2.46
billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Belarus approved in
January. She opined that the GOB will not have to depreciate
its currency again as the National Bank's monetary policy Is
sufficiently rigorous. She praised cuts the GOB make in the
central budget and welcomed the scheduled tax reform doubting,
though, that higher VAT will help reduce the foreign trade
deficit. The GOB should focus more on making the economy more
competitive rather than reducing imports, opined the IMF
representative.
7. Belarus and Russia Sign Agreement on Nuclear Energy
MINSK 00000172 002.2 OF 002
According to press reports, Russia and Belarus concluded May 29
a framework cooperation agreement on the use of nuclear energy
for peaceful purposes. The Agreement signed at the session of
the Council of Ministers of the Union State established a legal
basis for starting a project for the construction of a Nuclear
Power Plant (NPP) in Belarus in 2015 and beyond. The project
will require a specific agreement expected to be signed in
October or November. Russia' Deputy Premier/Finance Minister
Alexei Kudrin announced May 28 that the GOB approached the GOR
for USD 9 billion loan to construct the NPP. Kudrin explained
that the Russian side will need time to review the application
meaning it wants convincing proofs the project is fully viable.
--------------
Quote of the Week
--------------
8. Welcoming visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor
Lieberman June 4, Lukashenka said: "Israel for Belarus is not a
foreign country as more than a dozen thousand our compatriots
live there. We are not indifferent to these people's fates.
Everybody in this country knows about that and anybody who ever
left Belarus for Israel knows about that. Repatriates from
Belarus, our Jews, are special people. This is a tender, moral
note in our relations that makes an imprint in all our
relations".
MOORE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON BO
SUBJECT: BELARUS BI-WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - JUNE 6, 2009
MINSK 00000172 001.2 OF 002
1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by
Embassy Minsk.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Civil Society
--------------
- Malady Front Activist Fined (para. 2)
- Human Rights Group Denied Registration (para. 3)
- Prosecutors Extend Criminal Investigation against Volkovysk
Activists (para. 4)
Domestic Economy
--------------
- GOB to Increase VAT (para. 5)
- Belarus May Receive IMF's Second Tranche Later this Month
(para. 6)
- Belarus and Russia Sign Agreement on Nuclear Energy (para. 7)
Quote of the Week (para. 8)
--------------
--------------
Civil Society
--------------
2. Malady Front Activist Fined
On May 26, Soligorsk authorities fined underage local MF member
Iliya Shyla $625 in absentia. Shyla photographed and observed a
May 5 demonstration "School for All" staged by the MF activists
in downtown Soligorsk in support of his forcefully conscripted
brother Ivan Shyla, expelled from school before his final
graduation exam in June 2008. Iliya Shyla will appeal the fine
to court insisting that the charges were "far-fetched".
3. Human Rights Group Denied Registration
The Justice Ministry denied May 28 the prominent human rights
group Nasha Vyasna its third registration application. The
Ministry alleged that the NGO's name was not "consistent" with
stated purposes and that group's founders and leaders were
previously convicted on numerous administrative charges.
Justice officials also stated that the human rights lawyers
"impeded" their ability to verify registration documents.
4. Prosecutors Extend Criminal Investigation against Volkovysk
Activists
On June 2, Minsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office extended until July
3 criminal investigations against Volkovysk activists Nikolay
Avtukhovich, Yuriy Leonov and Vladimir Osipenko. Human rights
advocates continue to express their concerns over the activists
being held in custody and police neither interrogating them to
conclude investigations nor filing their cases to court.
Avtukhovich -- like Leonov, a former political prisoner -- has
been on a hunger strike since April 16 and has reportedly lost
25 kilograms.
--------------
Domestic Economy
--------------
5. GOB to Increase VAT
According to media reports, the GOB will soon increase VAT from
18 to 22 percent. While intended to increase GOB revenue,
regime officials claim that the increase will not result in
higher prices on consumer goods, and will rather help reduce
consumer imports and boost exports.
6. Belarus May Receive IMF's Second Tranche Later this Month
The IMF permanent representative in Belarus Natalia Kolyadina
told Prime-TASS news agency June 1 that the IMF and the GOB
experts have successfully resolved almost all outstanding issues
during the IMF's mission to Minsk in April-May. This will allow
the IMF to complete its review by the end of June and issue the
second tranche of USD 400 million under the IMF's USD 2.46
billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Belarus approved in
January. She opined that the GOB will not have to depreciate
its currency again as the National Bank's monetary policy Is
sufficiently rigorous. She praised cuts the GOB make in the
central budget and welcomed the scheduled tax reform doubting,
though, that higher VAT will help reduce the foreign trade
deficit. The GOB should focus more on making the economy more
competitive rather than reducing imports, opined the IMF
representative.
7. Belarus and Russia Sign Agreement on Nuclear Energy
MINSK 00000172 002.2 OF 002
According to press reports, Russia and Belarus concluded May 29
a framework cooperation agreement on the use of nuclear energy
for peaceful purposes. The Agreement signed at the session of
the Council of Ministers of the Union State established a legal
basis for starting a project for the construction of a Nuclear
Power Plant (NPP) in Belarus in 2015 and beyond. The project
will require a specific agreement expected to be signed in
October or November. Russia' Deputy Premier/Finance Minister
Alexei Kudrin announced May 28 that the GOB approached the GOR
for USD 9 billion loan to construct the NPP. Kudrin explained
that the Russian side will need time to review the application
meaning it wants convincing proofs the project is fully viable.
--------------
Quote of the Week
--------------
8. Welcoming visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor
Lieberman June 4, Lukashenka said: "Israel for Belarus is not a
foreign country as more than a dozen thousand our compatriots
live there. We are not indifferent to these people's fates.
Everybody in this country knows about that and anybody who ever
left Belarus for Israel knows about that. Repatriates from
Belarus, our Jews, are special people. This is a tender, moral
note in our relations that makes an imprint in all our
relations".
MOORE