BELARUS WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - MARCH 20, 2009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000092 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON BO SUBJECT: BELARUS WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - MARCH 20, 2009 MINSK 00000092 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy Minsk. TABLE OF CONTENTS Civil Society -------------- - Opposition Youth Demonstrate on Solidarity Day (para. 2) - Unregistered Union of Poles Member Fined (para. 3) - Gomel Belarusian Christian Democrats Fined (para. 4) - Vitebsk Belarusian Christian Democrat Briefly Detained (para. 5) - Prosecutors Reject Calls for Investigation into Human Rights Advocate's Suicide (para. 6) Domestic Economy -------------- - January-February Industrial Output Down 2.8 Percent Year-on-Year (para. 7) - GOB Prohibits Bonuses and Remuneration Payments at Loss-Making Businesses (para. 8) - Chief of Financial Intelligence: Government Needs to Scrutinize Casino Operations Better (para. 9) Foreign Trade -------------- - GOB Cancels Most Export Tariffs (para. 10) - Energy Ministry to Rescind Contract with Iranian Equipment Supplier (para. 11) Quote of the Week (para. 12) -------------- -------------- Civil Society -------------- ¶2. Opposition Youth Demonstrate on Solidarity Day Over one hundred opposition youth staged unsanctioned rallies March 16 urging to end politically motivated persecution of opposition activists and to commemorate the 1999-2000 disappearances of high profile politicians on the monthly marked Solidarity Day. Malady Front members assembled at the parliament building, and Maladaya Belarus and Belarusian Popular Front youth group activists protested in downtown Minsk. Police closely observed and filmed rallies but did not interfere. No detentions were reported. In a separate incident in Soligorsk on March 16, police dispersed a demonstration but did not arrest any protesters. ¶3. Unregistered Union of Poles Member Fined On March 17, a Grodno district court fined Polish Gazeta Wyborcza correspondent and unregistered Belarusian NGO Union of Poles activist Andrzej Poczobut $180 for participating in an unauthorized demonstration on January 17, 2009. A large group of Union members assembled outside of a building where the official Union held its meeting and were banned from attending it. Poczobut called the rally "spontaneous" and noted that a number of his associates might be facing same administrative charges. ¶4. Gomel Belarusian Christian Democrats Fined A Gomel district court notified March 14 Belarusian Christian Democracy party (BCDP) members Yevgeniy Yakovenko and Dmitriy Kutasov that they were fined in absentia $245 and $370 accordingly March 4. The court charged the activists with participating in an unauthorized demonstration to mark the International Mother Language Day February 21. ¶5. Vitebsk Belarusian Christian Democrat Briefly Detained Police detained March 15 for two hours BCDP activist Konstantin Ivanov over distributing flyers to mark the Day of Constitution in downtown Vitebsk. The flyers featured extracts from the Constitution that guarantee Belarusians their right to obtain truthful information, assemble freely to express their political beliefs and outlined GOB's infringements of fundamental freedoms in Belarus. Police released Ivanov without charge, and he appealed his "illegal detention" to court. ¶6. Prosecutors Reject Calls for Investigation into Human Rights Advocate's Suicide On March 17, Soligorsk prosecutors denied opening a criminal investigation into local human rights advocate Yana Polyakova's March 7 suicide, citing lack of evidence. Polyakova's associates will appeal the denial to the court over prosecutors MINSK 00000092 002.2 OF 002 violating investigative regulations. Polyakova's mother had not been reportedly questioned over the incident. Fellow activists had been concerned about her emotional state: the human rights advocate committed suicide after a court sentenced her March 3 to two and one-half years of partial house arrest for filing a false report against a police officer. -------------- Domestic Economy -------------- ¶7. January-February Industrial Output Down 2.8% Year-on-Year According to the data posted by the National Statistics Committee March 16, the country's industrial production in January-February dropped 2.3% year-on-year to the equivalent of $6.2 billion. The largest fall of 20% was at machine-building and metalworking factories. Chemical enterprises, however, even increased their aggregate production by 27.6%. Nevertheless, more than 30% of all industrial businesses in the country reported losses in January and February, while a year ago the number was only 20%. ¶8. GOB Prohibits Bonuses and Remuneration Payments at Loss-Making Businesses According to press reports, the GOB issued Resolution 288 March 6 to prohibit payments of bonuses and remunerations at loss-making businesses regardless of ownership. In addition, top managers will not be eligible for any premium payments if their businesses have arrears in salary payments to workers. The resolution also increased the multiplier of managers' salaries. From now on, their average salary can be up to five and more times higher (previously four times) than the average salary paid in companies, which they head. ¶9. Chief of Financial Intelligence: Government Needs to Scrutinize Casino Operations Better Valeriy Yaroshevskiy, Director of the Department of Financial Monitoring (Financial Intelligence) of the State Control Committee, told the journalists March 17 that the GOB plans more rigorous inspections of casino operations as it has reasons to believe that casinos are involved in money laundering. He gave an example of an individual who was routinely winning $35,000 day in and day out but law enforcement officers accounted for no law violations. -------------- Foreign Trade -------------- ¶10. GOB Cancels Most Export Tariffs According to media reports, President Lukashenka signed Edict 135 March 17 to cancel almost all tariffs on exported Belarusian products. The GOB left export tariffs on oil and oil products intact as Belarus has a corresponding agreement with Russia. An anonymous source in the government told Prime-TASS news agency that the country's central budget did not benefit much from export tariffs and it was an extra burden on major exporters too. The move is expected to help boost exports, which fell 50% on the year in January. ¶11. Energy Ministry to Rescind Contract with Iranian Equipment Supplier According to the media, the Energy Ministry approached the GOB March 13 with a request to help rescind a contract with Iran's Marvestan Group signed in July 2008 over the company's failure to supply the necessary equipment for the construction of an $8.6 million 17 MW hydropower station in the Grodno region. The final decision on the contract has to be made by Lukashenka. In the meantime, the Energy Ministry is looking for new and more reliable suppliers. -------------- Quote of the Week -------------- ¶12. During his working visit to Vitebsk region Lukashenka said: "We know what actions these people (opposition) require from European and American officials -- cause a terrible damage to our state~ This is the position of our lousy opposition [pozitsiya vshivoy oppozitsii]. Let me stress again -- they are lousy. They are not an opposition. They are enemies of the Belarusian people and I state that with responsibility because I know what they say and what they want. They are ready to be sold to anybody in order to twist Lukashenka's neck, take his chair and destabilize the situation in the country. They are not going to do it as long as I live. " MOORE