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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000017 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - January 5, 2006 
 
Ref: 05 Minsk 1409 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by 
Embassy Minsk. 
 
------------ 
Human Rights 
------------ 
 
¶2.  Independant Pollster Warned for Illegal Polling 
 
On December 30, the Prosecutor General's office issued a warning to 
head of the Independent Institute of Social, Economic and Political 
Studies (IISEPS) Oleg Manaev for illegally conducting surveys and 
publishing the results in Belarus.  IISEPS, which is no longer 
officially registered in Belarus, conducted a poll and published 
its results without first obtaining the proper accreditation from 
the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences as required by the 
November 2005 directive (ref).  The Prosecutor General's Office 
threatened administrative charges if IISEPS continues to conduct 
polls in Belarus.  Manaev plans to contest the warning. 
 
¶3.  Border Officials Temporarily Seized 27,000 Copies of Narodnaya 
Volya 
 
On January 3, Belarusian anti-smuggling border officials seized the 
entire January 4 print run - 27,000 issues - of the independent 
daily newspaper "Narodnaya Volya" over an allegedly fraudulent 
document that accompanied the shipment.  After the Russian printing 
house confirmed the legality of the shipment on January 4, police 
released the newspapers.  [Note: NV must print its newspapers in 
Russia after Belarusian state publishing houses refuse to renew 
printing contracts with the independent newspaper.] 
 
¶4.  Amendments to the Criminal Code Go into Effect 
 
As of January 1, the amendments to the criminal code that make it a 
crime punishable by up to three years in prison for discrediting 
Belarus have come into effect.  Despite being marked urgent and 
hurried through both houses of parliament, Post is not aware of any 
instances where the amendments have been employed. 
 
¶5.  Supreme Court Upheld Belarusian-Polish NGO's Liquidation 
 
On December 28, Supreme Court judge Galina Zhukovskaya upheld the 
previous decision to liquidate the Belarusian-Polish educational 
organization, Belaruskaya Perspektyva (BP), and ordered BP to pay 
BYR 150,000 [USD 70] in court fees.  The judge stated that BP 
failed to find a nonresidential legal address and failed to remove 
the word "Belaruskaya" [Belarusian] from its title as required by 
Belarusian law.  BP claimed that it searched repeatedly for a legal 
address but decided to halt the operations of its Belarusian branch 
when it could not find one. 
 
¶6.  Dubbed British Movie Not Allowed to Play at State Movie Palace 
 
On December 30, the state-run Minsk Children and Youth Palace 
cancelled the screening of the British movie "Love Actually."  The 
manager claimed the theater could not show the movie - which had 
been professionally dubbed into Belarusian - because the palace was 
overbooked.  Project coordinator Frank Vyachorka opined that the 
cancellation was politically motivated and stated that "any 
initiative, any project that does not come from the state, even a 
Belarusian-language movie, is considered political dissidence in 
Belarus." 
 
¶7.  Belarusian Language Society Deregistered in Zhodino 
 
On January 3, the Zhodino authorities annulled the registration of 
the Francisak Skaryna Belarusian Language Society (BLS) for failure 
to eliminate irregularities described in its two previous official 
warnings, including failure to find a legal address.  BLS chairman 
Ales Lapitsky said that the organization had requested help from 
the GOB to find a legal address in 1999 but have not received a 
response to its request.  Lapitsky opined that the real reason for 
BLS's deregistration was the organization's involvement in the 
presidential campaign. 
 
¶8.  Nearly 200 Travel Agencies Not Registered in 2005 
 
On January 4, the Ministry of Sports and Tourism (MOST) announced 
that it terminated the licenses of 198 tour operators in 2005.  The 
MOST cited lack of properly trained personnel and failure to meet 
mandatory inbound tourist requirements as the main reasons why the 
firms lost their licenses.  Presently there are 570 tour operators 
in Belarus. 
 
--------- 
Economics 
--------- 
 
 
MINSK 00000017  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶9.  Little Money In, Little Money Out 
 
On December 27, Minsk Transit Bank senior manager Dmitri 
Borisenok announced that the volume of incoming money transfers 
has declined in Belarus to the point where it almost matches 
outgoing money transfers.  Borisenok stated that in countries 
with economies similar to Belarus, incoming money transfers 
should far outpace outgoing money transfers.  He cited 
restrictions on the receipt and use of foreign aid - like USD 
400 limits and two-week waiting period to receive money from 
abroad - as the main reason for the low volume on incoming 
money transfers. 
 
 
¶10. Industrial Stock Sits in Warehouses 
 
According to the Ministry of Statistics' December 30 announcement, 
Belarus' production of goods has outpaced demand for them. 
Overstock of Belarusian industrial production has increased 28 
percent from January to November.  As of December 1, 58 percent of 
all industrial goods produced in Belarus were overstock, with no 
ready buyers.  This stock is valued at BYR 2.223 trillion [USD 1.03 
billion].  The large amount of unsold goods is a result of 
Lukashenko pressing for full employment and high production output 
without focusing on who will consume the finished goods. 
 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶11. Lukashenko Appoints Oil Friend Honorary Consul 
 
On December 30, the Belarusian ambassador to Russia named Igor 
Markov, the president of Russia's oil and gas trader Itera, 
Belarus' honorary consul in Russia.  Markov's duties would 
include developing bilateral contacts in various political and 
economic spheres. [Note: Markov is a long time friend of 
Lukashenko and his company supplied cheap natural gas to 
Belarus until Gazprom forced Itera out.  Markov has invited at 
least two U.S. codels to Belarus without Post's knowledge to 
meet Lukashenko under the guise of fixing U.S.-Belarusian 
relations.  In those instances, the GOB has used the visits as 
a propaganda tool.] 
 
¶12. Presidential Administration Shake Up 
 
On January 4, Lukashenko appointed former state secretary of 
the Security Council Gennady Nevyglas as the head of the 
Presidential Administration.  Former chairman of the Supreme 
Certification Commission Anatoly Rubinov will be Nevyglas' 
deputy.  Former Presidential Administration head Viktor Sheiman 
will now run Lukashenko's campaign for the March presidential 
elections. 
 
¶13. Fighting Corruption in the GOB 
 
On January 5, authorities arrested deputy director from truck 
production company "Belaz" for allegedly using his position to 
steal USD 154,000 under the guise of conducting research and 
development of trucking equipment.  On the same day, the 
Minister of Health was arrested for allegedly accepting a USD 
7,000 bribe in return for arranging job placements.  These 
arrests come months after Lukashenko announced the GOB's 
tougher stance on corruption and the lower house of Parliament 
ratified a bill for the Civil Law Convention on Corruption in 
December 2005. 
 
------------------- 
Bilateral Relations 
------------------- 
 
¶14. Taiwan Closes Representative Office in Belarus 
 
On January 4, the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affiars (MOFA) 
announced that it will close its trade representative office in 
Belarus immediately.  The decision was prompted by Belarus' 
opposition to Taiwain's participation in international 
organizations such as the UN and the WHO.  [Note: During his 
December trip to Beijing, Lukashenko openly supported the one 
China policy.]  Taiwan's representative office in Moscow will 
cover trade issues with Belarus. 
 
¶15. Zimbabwe Wants Belarusian Imports 
 
On December 29, Moscow-based Zimbabwean ambassador announced 
his country's intention to start importing Belarusian trucks, 
tractors and agricultural equipment.  The ambassador would also 
like to hire Belarusian contractors for road construction and 
to have Belarusian schools train experts on multiple deposits 
of natural resources.  Belarusian ambassador to Russia welcomed 
 
MINSK 00000017  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
closer economic and trade relations with Zimbabwe. 
 
-------------------------- 
Information and Technology 
-------------------------- 
 
¶16. Belarus Steals Google Homepage 
 
On January 4, internet search provider Google promised to 
investigate legal steps to address a Belarusian web page that 
has stolen the Google name and logo.  Google representatives 
have stated "this site (www.google.by) is not owned operated or 
controlled by Google."  Google discovered the copied web page, 
which can be located at www.google.by, when "Googlophiles" 
reported a "Google" homepage with text advertisements on the 
side. [Note: Official Google homepages are free of 
advertisements.] 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶17. On December 30, Lukashenko told journalists that he will not 
change Belarus' foreign policy course and listed allies and 
cooperating partners: 
 
"Russia is our reliable ally....We also have powerful partners, 
such as the EU and the USA, China and India." 
 
 
KROL