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RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000627 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EPET EAGR ENRG BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - June 9, 2006 
 
 
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¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by 
Embassy Minsk. 
 
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International Relations 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  Russian Ambassador Against Belarus' Retaliation for Travel Bans 
 
On June 8, the Russian Ambassador to Belarus, Aleksandr Surikov, 
described as erroneous the Belarusian government's decision to ban 
European Union and US officials from entering the country in 
retaliation to a similar ban by Western countries. Surikov said 
that the EU's sanctions were a "big mistake" and that Russia has 
succeeded in reducing outside pressure on Belarus. He also claimed 
that Russia had persuaded Germany, France and Italy to have a 
milder attitude toward Belarus in comparison with new EU members. 
Earlier that day, a spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, 
Andrei Popov, said that the Belarusian government had compiled a 
list of Western officials who would be banned from entering 
Belarus.  Popov did not reveal specific names but said that the 
list included "the most odious political figures." 
 
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Post-Elections 
-------------- 
 
¶3.  Belarus' Election Commission Blasts ODIHR's Final Report 
 
Central Election Commission (CEC) Secretary Nikolai Lozovik 
criticized the June 7 final report of the OSCE Office for 
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the March 
presidential election in Belarus as politically motivated and 
stated that the report cannot serve as grounds for not recognizing 
the election results. Moreover, Lozovik rebuked ODIHR for refusing 
to show the report to the CEC before publication and declared, "The 
ODIHR is a more closed institution than the CIA and the KGB 
combined." Lozovik also claimed that there were a number of 
"inaccuracies" in the ODIHR's preliminary conclusions and said that 
ODIHR should be accused of falsifying the observation results 
instead of accusing Belarusian election officials of fraud.  The 
final report repeated ODIHR's earlier conclusion that the election 
failed to meet OSCE standards and issued more than 50 
recommendations regarding Belarus' legal framework, voting 
regulations, registration of candidates and voters, campaign 
funding, media, complaints and appeals, vote counting and election 
observation. 
 
¶4.  Pro-Democracy Communist Leader Condemns Forcible Merger with 
Pro-Lukashenko Party 
 
On June 7, the pro-democratic Belarusian Party of Communists (BPC) 
condemned what it called a government-inspired attempt to merge the 
BPC and the pro-government Communist Party of Belarus (CPB).  BPC 
leader Sergei Kalyakin speculated that the Belarusian government 
persuaded several prominent BPC members to convene the 
reunification conference scheduled for July 15.  CPB Central 
Committee Secretary Valery Drako stated that the party would 
provide assistance for organizing meetings and nominating delegates 
to the conference. Drako also said that the reunification 
initiative "comes from below" and that the parties' leaders would 
never agree to a merger.  Drako explained, "common Communists did 
not like the policy of the BPC leaders, which had the sole purpose 
of fulfilling orders from the West and the United States and 
preventing the reelection of the incumbent president for a new 
term." 
 
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Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶5.  Belarusian Foreign Ministry Praises TIP Report 
 
On June 8, Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Popov 
described the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report of the U.S. 
Department of State as "balanced and constructive." Popov said that 
Belarus currently cooperates with other countries and international 
organizations and welcomed the United States to join its effort. 
Belarus is ranked "Tier 2," which means that it made significant 
efforts to comply with the country standards of the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act of 2000 but a lack of adequate funding for 
victim protection hampered the GOB's ability to deliver consistent 
assistance to victims and undertake new anti-trafficking 
responsibilities. According to the report, the government should 
provide additional training to officials to raise general awareness 
and improve victim identification throughout Belarus. 
 
¶6.  Prosecutor's Office Issued Second Warning to Pollster 
 
On June 8, the director of Independent Institute of Social, 
 
MINSK 00000627  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Economic and Political Research Oleg Manaev has received a second 
official warning from the Belarusian Prosecutor's office ordering 
Manaev to desist from disseminating information about the results 
of March's presidential elections and from conducting social and 
political research.  Deputy Prosecutor Mikalay Kupryjanau signed 
the warning that states that Manaev could face criminal charges 
under Article 369 of Belarus' criminal code. Professor Manaev 
maintained that the accusation is legally groundless. Manaev told 
Radio Svaboda that the official warning "is absurd, and it shows 
the state's control over the society in Belarus in a new light." 
 
¶7.  GOB Warns History Magazine against Violating Media Law 
 
Belarus' Ministry of Information accused Valery Slivkin, the 
founder of the historical independent journal "Lidski Letapisets," 
and his editoral staff of failing to notify the Ministry promptly 
that the journal's circulation had changed.  According to the 
Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), the editorial staff 
was accused of violating Belarusian media laws by indicating the 
wrong issue dates in recent Lidski Letapisets issues and failing to 
distribute free of charge the required number of copies of the 
publication.  Founded in 1997, the magazine currently has a print 
run of 400 copies. 
 
¶8.  Lukashenko Criticizes Officials, Coaches for Olympic 
Performance 
 
On June 6, President Lukashenko blamed coaches for Belarus' poor 
showing at the Olympics in Turin last February and reiterated the 
level of government support offered to sports in the country.  He 
also warned that sports officials would "bear personal 
responsibility" for the performance of Belarusian athletes at the 
2008 Olympics in Beijing and the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. 
Lukashenko, who chairs Belarus' National Olympic Committee (NOC), 
directed Sports Minister Aleksandr Grigorov to resolve Belarus' 
shortage of well-trained coaches and called for reviewing athletes 
and coaches who are entitled to monthly presidential allowances. 
Lukashenko told the NOC Executive Committee, "what is done for the 
development of sports in Belarus at present is not done in any 
other country... We should acknowledge that apart from the 
freestyle skiing team, other athletes did not achieve the results 
which they could achieve and which had been expected in Belarus." 
Freestyle skier Dmitry Dashchinsky, who came third in the men's 
aerials, won the country's only 2006 Olympic medal. 
 
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Economy 
------- 
 
¶9. EU Textile, Clothing Companies Interested in Belarus 
 
On June 8, the chairman of the Belarusian State Light Industry 
Concern (Bellegprom), Eduard Naryshkin, announced that textile and 
clothing companies from several countries of the European Union, 
including Romania and the Baltic states, are interested in 
relocating their manufacturing facilities to Belarus to avoid 
raising wages to the level required by the European Commission. 
Naryshkin predicted that in the near future China, India, Pakistan 
and Turkey would manufacture most large orders for clothing and 
textiles but that EU companies would place small, urgent orders in 
Belarus because of proximity and relatively low labor costs. 
Naryshkin said that Bellegprom plans to establish several centers 
for developing new textile and clothing models and technologies. 
 
¶10.  Lukashenko Limits Cost of Housing to USD 600 Per Square Meter 
 
On June 8, Aleksandr Lukashenko ordered the newly appointed 
Construction Minister, Aleksandr Seleznev, to reduce next year's 
price of one square meter of housing to USD 600.  Seleznev reported 
that the Presidium of the Council of Ministers has recently 
approved a set of measures that simplify the procedure of obtaining 
a land plot and reducing the wait for permission for a construction 
project by three to four times.  Seleznev said that he expects the 
measures to reduce total construction costs by 10 percent and that 
data in design and estimate documents would be expressed in current 
prices, not 1991 prices as is the currently policy. 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶11.  According to a Belarus zoo director, Zhanetta Kochenovskaya, a 
family of cynomolgus (long-tailed) monkeys has been helping Vitebsk 
visitors alleviate stress at a special "psychological relief room" 
at the zoo for several years by listening to their problems. 
Kochenovskaya observed: 
 
"We've had troubled civil servants come to see their distant 
ancestors for psychological support and stress relief. And 
communicating with the monkeys helped them." 
 
 
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KROL