BELARUS WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - JUNE 19, 2009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000195 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON BO SUBJECT: BELARUS WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - JUNE 19, 2009 MINSK 00000195 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy Minsk. TABLE OF CONTENTS Civil Society -------------- - Opposition Youth Convicted (para. 2) - Protestant Activist Fined (para. 3) - GOB Denies Registration to Opposition Party (para. 4) - Police Raid Residence of Malady Front Activist (para. 5) Domestic Economy -------------- - Russia Lifts Belarus' Dairy Produce Import Ban (para. 6) - Industrial Output Down 3.4% (para. 7) - Foreign Debt Down 0.2% (para. 8) Foreign Relations -------------- - Belarus-German Economic Council Resumes Work (para. 9) - Belarus, Ukraine Sign Bilateral Agreements (para. 10) Quote of the Week (para. 11) -------------- -------------- Civil Society -------------- ¶2. Opposition Youth Convicted A Minsk district court sentenced June 15 opposition youth Maksim Dashuk, recognized as "a prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty International, to another 15 months of partial house arrest. Dashuk was charged with violating restrictions of his current partial house arrest sentence and failing to timely report to the sheriff. The youth was convicted of participating in unsanctioned January 10, 2008, entrepreneur demonstrations in Minsk. ¶3. Protestant Activist Fined On June 17, Gorki town authorities fined local Protestant activist Pyotr Malanochkin $60 for allegedly distributing copies of the Bible, the UN Human Rights Declaration, and other printed materials. The activist dismissed the charges, saying that he installed a book stand in front of his house four years ago and it enjoyed high popularity among local residents. Moreover, Malanochkin linked the fine with his community's successful signature-collection campaign against the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus. ¶4. GOB Denies Registration to Opposition Party The Justice Ministry denied June 15 registration to the Party of Freedom and Progress. Officials outlined "illegitimacy" of party's founding convention and registration application containing "conflicting" information as major reasons for turning down the application. ¶5. Police Raid Residence of Malady Front Activist Law-enforcement officers raided the apartment of Malady Front activist Andrey Tenyuta in Gomel on June 15 and confiscated a computer in response to his failure to pay a $980 fine. Tenyuta maintained that the officers threatened him and did not produce any warrant which justified the seizure. -------------- Domestic Economy -------------- ¶6. Russia Lifts Belarus' Dairy Produce Import Ban After a week-long trade dispute and emotional exchange of reproaches, GOB and Russia reached an agreement June 17 to remove restrictions and resume Belarus-made dairy produce imports to Russia. Belarus Agriculture Minister Semyon Shapiro asserted that Belarus' dairy manufacturers would commence upgrading necessary certificates to fully comply with the GOR requirements and called negotiations "balanced and constructive". Shapiro's Russian counterpart Yelena Skrynnik maintained that the GOB conceded to the suspension of powdered milk exports to Russia from June 15 until September 30, 2009. On June 17, the GOB also withdrew plans to resume extensive customs and border control at the border with Russia. ¶7. Industrial Output Down 3.4% MINSK 00000195 002.2 OF 002 Belarus Economy Ministry reported June 17 that industrial output went down 3.4% on the year in January-May 2009. Electrical power engineering, mechanical engineering, woodworking, construction and light industry were showing a steady decline. Food and petrochemical industries remained least affected by the global financial crisis. The Ministry outlined optimistic projections for 2009, citing the possibility of industrial output expansion by 3%-4% on the year in 2009. ¶8. Foreign Debt Down 0.2% Based on official statistics, the Belarusian Finance Ministry announced June 12 that Belarus' state foreign debt went down 0.2% in April, reaching $4.977 billion, following a 33.8% rise in January-April 2009. -------------- Foreign Relations -------------- ¶9. Belarus-German Economic Council Resumes Work The Belarus-German Council for Economic Cooperation held June 16 its first meeting since 1996. President Lukashenka welcomed the resumption of its work and committed to being "a good partner" for Germany, citing the "stable and predictable economy" in Belarus. At his meeting with Bernd Pfaffenbach, State Secretary of Germany's Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Lukashenka expressed interest in attracting German investments and guaranteed the "security" of investment in Belarus. Pfaffenbach lauded steps taken by the GOB to liberalize the economy and called for further reforms, particularly in the sector of private business. ¶10. Belarus, Ukraine Sign Bilateral Agreements Belarus and Ukrainian PMs Sergey Sidorskiy and Yuliya Timoshenko signed a number of bilateral agreements in Kyiv June 12. The parties adopted regulations to remove restrictions in mutual trade, to drop ongoing anti-dumping investigations and facilitate trade dispute settlements and to resume Ukraine exporting electrical power to Belarus. The PMs committed to jointly "tackle problems" related to the global financial crisis and develop "fruitful" economic cooperation. -------------- Quote of the Week -------------- ¶11. Presidential Administration daily "Belarus Segodnya" published June 16 a contemptuous article to discredit Russia and demonstrate that its ban against imports of Belarus-made dairy produce was a pure political gesture. Author of the article Pavel Starodub [likely a pen name for Pavel Yakubovich, the paper's editor-in-chief] stated the following: "We presume that it is impossible to spot an idiot in the Kremlin...who believes Belarus-made milk to be bad, of poor quality, and unsafe to drink...everyone knows well that inexpensive and tasty Belarus-made milk products are the favorite and welcomed `guests' [at homes] of millions of Russian housewives. So, why lie and mislead people?" MOORE