VZCZCXYZ0013
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSK #0555/01 1460835
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 260835Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4449
INFO RUEHKV/AMEMBASSY KIEV PRIORITY 3302
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 3465
RUEHRA/AMEMBASSY RIGA PRIORITY 1681
RUEHVL/AMEMBASSY VILNIUS PRIORITY 3685
RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW PRIORITY 3335
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 1153
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USMISSION USEU PRIORITY 0087

UNCLAS MINSK 000555 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
KIEV FOR USAID 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM EINV BO
SUBJECT: GRODNO/VOLKOVISK TRIP HIGHLIGHTS 
 
REF: 05 MINSK 1383 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  On May 16-17, Ambassador toured the Grodno 
oblast in the western part of Belarus, stopping first in 
Grodno and then in Volkovisk.  Recently released political 
prisoner Levonevskiy described his deplorable prison 
conditions. Free trade unionists noted increasing GOB 
pressure on independent trade unions.  Independent Union of 
Belarusian Poles (UBP) activists described their ongoing 
struggles with the state-supported UBP. Local Grodno and 
Volkovisk authorities on the other hand detailed the positive 
effects large government investments have had on their 
localities.  Ambassador toured newly renovated factories in 
both cities and Grodno's Free Economic Zone and spoke to a 
gathering of university students in Grodno. End Summary. 
 
Released Activists Discuss Prison Conditions, Trade Unions 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On May 16, Ambassador met with former political 
prisoner Valery Levonevsky, who had just finished his 
two-year prison sentence (for defaming the president) the day 
before.  Levonevsky described the deplorable conditions in 
which he and other prisoners are forced to live, including 
the lack of nutritional meals and medical and legal 
assistance.  He plans to promote prisoners' rights and inform 
the international community of the poor conditions and 
treatment of Belarusian prisoners.  Levonevsky, who looked 
healthy although he claimed of a heart ailment, intends to 
resume his trade union activities but said needs to first 
focus on his family and restoring his health. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Levonevsky opined the opposition did the best it 
could during the elections given the circumstances it faced 
but conceded Lukashenko's victory was to be expected.  He 
stressed democratic forces need international support. 
Levonevsky believes the situation in Belarus can only be 
changed from the outside, primarily through Western pressure 
on Russia.  Ambassador responded that change would probably 
happen when enough Belarusians were ready to make it happen 
and not as a result solely of foreign pressure. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Independent trade union leader and current city 
council member (one of the few independents to have been 
elected to a local council) Sergey Antusevich noted the 
increasing pressure his union faces from the authorities.  He 
claimed the GOB is determined to close his chapter of the 
Free Trade Union at the Grodno's largest state enterprise - 
the huge petrochemical fertilizer plant AZOT.  Authorities 
and AZOT administrators recently took away the Union's 
office, leaving the Union without a legal address and, hence, 
imperiling its registration status.  The Union has already 
lost 300 members due to the authorities' pressure on them to 
quit the union or be fired.  However, Antusevich maintained 
his union would persevere, even if it is forced to work 
underground. 
 
UBP and Journalist Describe Increased GOB Pressure 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Former Union of Belarusian Poles (UBP) leader 
Tadeusz Gavin told Ambassador that support in the Polish 
community for the state-backed UBP is very low.  According to 
Gavin, government-sponsored founding conferences in the 
regions attracted single-digit numbers of activists, as 
compared to hundreds who participated under the popularly 
elected UBP leaders.  He said activists who stayed with the 
state-backed UBP have been compromised and forced to sign 
declarations in support of Lukashenko.  UBP spokesperson 
Andrzei Pisalnik asserted the GOB considers the independent 
UBP to be a dangerous entity, since members are linked to 
Western democratic traditions and principles. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Independent reporter Natalia Makushina informed that 
government pressure forced her to suspend the printed edition 
of her independent newspaper, "Birzha Informatsiy" and create 
an online version.  Makushina called for international 
support of Belarusian independent electronic media as one way 
to keep independent news and information flowing to 
Belarusians. 
 
City Leaders Boast of Grodno's Civil and Economic Progress 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Chairman of the Grodno executive committee, 
Aleksandr Antonenko, his deputy Aleksandr Sivtsov, Grodno 
State University Rector Evgeny Rovba, and GrodnoInvest 
Director Sergey Tkachenko joined Ambassador for lunch where 
they discussed a wide range of political, economic and social 
issues. Mayor Antonenko claimed the recent presidential 
elections in Grodno passed peacefully reflecting the stable 
economic and political environment in the city. He asserted 
that Grodno native son and former deputy mayor and now 
opposition presidential candidate Milinkevich had visited 
Grodno several times during the campaign without incident but 
did not manage to obtain much local support.  Others at the 
table pointed to the area's rapid economic growth especially 
in the furniture and textile industries.  The social front 
was "stable" as well. 
 
Grodno Cemetery Issue Resolved 
------------------------------ 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Ambassador inquired about construction at the Grodno 
Stadium built on a Jewish cemetery. The Mayor maintained 
construction ended long ago and the situation with unearthed 
remains that he admitted had been handled poorly in the past, 
had now been "worked out amicably" with the local Jewish 
community. This was confirmed later in a chance encounter 
with local Jewish leader Korzh and when Ambassador drove by 
the stadium area. Korzh claimed the city authorities had 
already set a date to inaugurate the stone monument near the 
stadium memorializing the cemetery in fulfillment of their 
promise to ensure residents knew the history of the site. 
 
Investment on the Rise in Grodno 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Ambassador visited an American-owned meat packaging 
material factory and a Polish-Belarusian joint venture as 
part of his tour of the Grodno Free Economic Zone (FEZ) 
GrodnoInvest.  GrodnoInvest Director Sergey Tkachenko 
described the increased business activity and construction in 
the region, which he credited mainly to the success of 
Grodno's FEZ.  According to Tkachenko, Grodno's FEZ is the 
youngest of all the FEZ's in Belarus, but already has 33 
resident business and significant foreign capital investment. 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Mayor Antonenko told Ambassador that the level of 
competition to attract foreign investors is very high among 
the FEZs in Belarus.  While the investment conditions among 
the FEZs are standardized, infrastructures and locations 
differ. Antonenko considered the competition and diversity to 
be good for investors because it gives them more options. 
Antonenko considered the Grodno FEZ's advantage to be its 
close proximity to "Europe," i.e. Poland.  According to 
Antonenko, Poland is the Grodno FEZ's biggest investor while 
Russia investments predominate in the more eastern FEZs. 
 
¶11. (SBU) When Ambassador raised foreign investors' 
hesitations to invest in Belarus due to unease about 
corruption and the frequent nationalization of private 
companies, Antonenko dismissed Ambassador's concerns, saying 
"we play by the rules in the Grodno FEZ" and corruption is 
"not a problem here."  Antonenko told Ambassador that foreign 
investors should not hesitate to invest in the FEZs despite 
Golden Share Rule concerns.  (Note: The Golden Share Rule 
allows the government under certain circumstance to 
nationalize a privately owned company if the government owns 
as few as one share of stock in the company (reftel).) 
Antonenko admitted, however, that the FEZ directors would 
have to support the GOB in a dispute between the authorities 
and a foreign company, but that the company could use the 
judicial system to resolve the problem. 
 
Quiet Q and A with Students 
--------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Ambassador visited Grodno State University and met 
with faculty and students.  After speaking to students about 
U.S. policies, few in the audience took up the offer to ask 
questions under the watchful eyes of the many university 
officials who were present in the room.  The questions 
focused primarily on student exchange programs indicating 
great interest in travel, work and study in the U.S. The 
students perked up only when Ambassador starting speaking in 
the unfortunately rarely heard Belarusian language.  In an 
additional effort of public outreach, Ambassador donated 
books and library materials to the Grodno American Corner and 
gave an interview to the local state television station, 
which good-naturedly asked the usual "loaded" questions. 
 
Authorities Present a Peaceful and Prosperous Volkovisk 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Ambassador stopped in the Grodno regional city of 
Volkovisk, the site of the 2003 fall "Dazhinki" harvest 
festival.  Ambassador met with the ebullient Regional 
Executive Committee Representative Mikhail Saveliev and his 
many minions. An animated Saveliev outlined Volkovisk's 
progress and developments and claimed it is the fastest 
growing city in the region after Grodno itself.  Saveliev 
said the regional executive committee poured billions of 
rubles into economic, education, cultural, and civic 
programs, including funds to modernize factories, especially 
in the meat and milk industries, and to purchase agricultural 
equipment. 
 
¶14. (SBU) In addition to being a prosperous city, Saveliev 
stressed the well-balanced interaction of all groups in 
Volkovisk.  He claimed relations among religious groups and 
with the government were amicable and noted that the 
government funded the construction and renovation of 
Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic buildings in 2005.  He 
added that registered political parties coexist peacefully 
and the presidential elections were conducted smoothly. 
 
¶15. (SBU) In good Soviet tradition Saveliev took us on a full 
tour of the city and its environs to demonstrate the positive 
effects of government investment in Volkovisk, including 
tours of museums, a newly built House of Culture, rural 
hospital and central hospitals, the Bellakt milk factory, the 
newly installed municipal fountain, and a recently renovated 
rural school.  A state-media cameraman studiously filmed it 
all. The long day in Volkovisk ended with obligatory toasts 
to peace and friendship "and to the wisdom of our 
presidents." 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶16. (SBU) Saveliev reflects the type of executive Lukashenko 
has tried to breed in Belarus - a firm believer in top down 
vertical management and the preeminent role of the state in 
all things.  Saveliev tried to present Volkovisk as the 
"model medium size Belarusian city," benefiting from the 
economic success and social progress of government control 
and hand-outs although he was quick to say that most of the 
funds come from the profits of the state firms and farms that 
answer to him.  While it was clear that money had been 
invested in the city, it is not evident where that money came 
from.  But all that glitters is not gold in Volkovisk; while 
we were getting our grand tour, Ambassador's driver learned 
from his Volkovisk counterpart that the city has its full 
share of economic and social problems.  Ambassador had raised 
various problems with Saveliev as he did with Grodno's mayor 
but got much the same response - "that's no problem"  -- an 
answer no doubt they give to state inspectors from Minsk. 
Both cities 
present an image of highly state-controlled growth but none 
of the free market commercial boom one sees in neighboring 
Poland and Lithuania. But the potential in Belarus is clearly 
there.  Oh yes, state media cameramen and journalists, 
accompanied at a distance by the head of city's ideology 
department, hounded us in Grodno when we visited civil 
society representatives. In Volkovisk, a state media 
cameraman assiduously filmed our every step. 
Krol