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DE RUEHSK #0740/01 1990348
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R 180348Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
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INFO RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY COOPERATION IN EUROPE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000740 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EPET EAGR ENRG BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - July 17, 2006 
 
MINSK 00000740  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by 
Embassy Minsk. 
 
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Political Parties 
----------------- 
 
¶2.  Pro-Lukashenko Communists Proclaim Merger with Opposition 
Communists 
 
   On July 15, the leadership of the pro-Lukashenko Communist Party 
of Belarus (CPB) declared a merger with the opposition Belarusian 
Party of Communists (BPC) and said that the new party would adopt 
the CPB's ideology.   In a statement issued following CPB's "merger 
conference" in Minsk, delegates said that the parties had been 
merged per the "will of most Communists in the country."  The 
controversial conference resulted in the decision to re-register 
certain grassroots organizations of the BPC as CPB chapters. 
According to conference organizers, more than 150 CPB delegates and 
over 70 BPC members attended the conference.  BPC Chairman Sergey 
Kalyakin condemned the merger conference as a staged-managed effort 
by the government to liquidate the influential opposition party and 
insisted that the conference had been held in violation of Belarus' 
Political Parties Law.  He noted that only two BPC members had 
attended the merger conference and that both were expelled from the 
BPC.  Many BPC members reportedly complained that authorities had 
attempted to coerce them to attend the conference. 
 
 
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Civil Society 
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¶3.  Former Opposition Candidate Sentenced to Five and a Half years 
in Prison 
 
On July 13, a judge of the Moskovsky District Court sentenced 
former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin to five and a 
half years in a medium-security prison.  Kozulin was accused of 
two counts of hooliganism and one count of disturbing the 
public peace.  The public prosecutor demanded a six-year prison 
sentence for the politician.  On the final day of the trial, 
the judge ordered the courtroom cleared before reading the 
verdict. 
 
¶4.  Police Detain as Many as Forty People Near Russian Embassy 
 
On July 16, Belarusian authorities detained as many as 40 
people near the Russian Embassy (located next to the American 
Embassy).  The demonstrators intended to focus attention on 
political repression in Belarus during the G-8 Summit in St. 
Petersburg and to urge Russia to cease its support for the 
Belarusian regime.  Police reportedly detained and beat several 
demonstrators in buses.  Authorities detained United Civic 
Party leader Anatoly Lebedko and opposition activist Zmitser 
Barodka.  Lebedko could be charged with "minor hooliganism" 
under Article 156 of Belarus' criminal code. 
 
¶5.  Imprisoned Politician Sends Letters Criticizing Parole Denial, 
Prison Conditions 
 
Opposition politician Andrei Klimov, who is serving a "restricted 
freedom" sentence in the Gomel region, sent open letters to 
President Lukashenko, Prosecutor General Pyotr Miklashevich, and 
Justice Minister Viktor Golovanov.  Klimov suggests specific 
measures to improve conditions in barracks for those sentenced to 
"restricted freedom," criticizes the correctional facility's 
refusal to parole him, and alleges that the Interior Ministry has 
violated the law by charging him for living in the correctional 
institution's barracks.  Klimov was sentenced in June 2005 to 18 
months of "restricted freedom" for staging an anti-government 
protest in Minsk.  He may leave the barracks for work during 
daytime with an obligation to report at an appointed time. 
 
¶6.  Nearly 400 Students Appeal for Support of Political Victims 
 
On July 9, Inna Kulei, the coordinator of a committee for 
supporting the victims of political repression in Belarus, reported 
the she has already accepted applications for assistance from about 
370 university students who have been expelled or are under threat 
of expulsion for their political activities.  (Note: Most reliable 
Embassy contacts, including those working with Kulei, dispute 
Kulei's estimate, asserting that the true number is significantly 
lower.)  According to Kulei, about 30 percent of applicants have 
not yet been expelled but complain about harassment and pressure by 
their schools' administrations.  She claims that up to five 
students appeal to the committee every day in connection with 
problems that they have at their schools because of their 
opposition political views. 
 
 
MINSK 00000740  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶7.  Taxi Drivers Protest Company Closure 
 
On July 14, in protest of the authorities' decision to close taxi 
company "0-52" and seize its dispatch frequency, between 50 and 100 
taxi drivers assembled their vehicles near the ONT television 
broadcasting building in Minsk and blocked all adjacent roads with 
their cars.  Drivers demanded access to live television to voice 
their grievances.  The GOB decided to close the company, leaving 
700 drivers unemployed.  Authorities have held 0-52's manager in 
pre-trial detention for several months under charges of non-payment 
of taxes. 
 
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International Relations 
----------------------- 
 
¶8. DefMin Maltsev To Visit Cuba 
 
On July 18, the Belarusian Defense Minister will travel to Cuba on 
a three-day visit to discuss bilateral military cooperation with 
with Raul Castro, Cuba's defense chief and brother of Cuban leader 
Fidel Castro.  According to the Belarusian defense ministry's press 
office, Raul Castro expressed an interest in meeting with Maltsev. 
 
¶9.  Belarus, Russia's Kamchatka Province Sign Cooperation Agreement 
 
On July 12, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky and Mikhail 
Mashkovtsev, Governor of Russia's Kamchatka province, signed an 
agreement on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural 
cooperation following talks held in Minsk on July 10-12. 
Mashkovtsev said that the provincial administration and the 
Belarusian government are considering the creation of a joint 
fishing company that would supply Pacific Ocean fish to Belarus and 
that Kamchatka would purchase BelAZ dump trucks for coal extraction 
sites.  He reportedly praised the Belarusian authorities for the 
establishment of an "efficient state system" that increased 
Belarus' industrial and agricultural potential. 
 
¶10.  Court Confiscates Lithuanian Stray Aircraft, Imposes Another 
Fine on Pilot 
 
On July 11, a district court in the Grodno region ordered the 
confiscation of a Lithuanian aircraft that intruded into Belarusian 
airspace last month and imposed an additional fine of USD 2,894 on 
the pilot, Tadas Blazevicius.  Blazevicius and his sister Indre 
illegally crossed the Belarusian border on June 6 in a German-made 
CTSW light sport plane.  A Belarusian Su-25 Frogfoot forced the 
Lithuanian plane to make a landing at a military airfield 40 
kilometers inside Belarus, Grodno region, some 40 kilometers into 
Belarus.  Both Blazevicius and his sister had already paid fines of 
USD 2,170 after being found guilty on June 13 of illegally crossing 
the Belarusian border.  They were expelled from Belarus on June 14. 
 
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Economy 
------- 
 
¶11.  Belarusian Authorities Intend to Start Talks with Suppliers of 
Nuclear Plant Equipment 
 
Although the Belarusian authorities have not yet announced a 
decision on the construction of a nuclear power station, officials 
have reportedly suggested locating a plant near Krasnopolye in the 
Bykhov district, Mogilyov region, or near Shklov, Mogilyov region. 
According to Acting Head of the Nuclear Safety Department of the 
Belarusian Emergency Management Ministry Vasily Galkovsky, foreign 
suppliers of nuclear plant equipment, including Russian companies, 
are prepared to negotiate possible contracts with Belarusian 
authorities.  On July 12, senior Belarusian government officials 
and experts of Belarus' Sosny power engineering and nuclear 
research facility met with the head of Russia's Federal Agency for 
Nuclear Energy (Rosatom) in Moscow to discuss the Belarusian 
nuclear plant project. 
 
¶12.  Finance Ministry Unveils 2007 Draft budget 
 
On July 12, First Deputy Minister Anatoly Sverzh told a meeting of 
the standing Committee on Budget, Finance and Tax Policy in the 
House of Representatives that the Belarusian Finance Ministry has 
submitted the 2007 draft budget to the Council of Ministers.  Under 
the draft budget, 4.83 percent of next year's expenditures on law- 
enforcement and security, 19.38 percent the agricultural sector and 
the road industry, 4.4 percent for housing construction and 
maintenance organizations, and 2.55 percent for defense.  Spending 
on healthcare will total 10.42 percent of total government 
expenditures, a one percent increase over this year.  Sverzh said 
the draft budget is still subject to amendments by the cabinet. 
 
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Society 
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MINSK 00000740  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶13.  Rock Concert to Mark Sixteenth Anniversary of Belarusian 
Independence 
 
Belarusian writer Vladimir Orlov and activists Valentina Svyatskaya 
and Aleksandr Zhuchkov have applied to the Minsk City Executive 
Committee for permission to hold a rock concert in Bangalore Square 
in Minsk on July 27, the anniversary of Belarus' 1990 declaration 
of Independence.  The date had been observed as a national holiday 
in Belarus until 1996 when the government changed Independence Day 
to July 3, the day of Minsk's liberation from the Nazis.  According 
to Orlov, the concert would feature prominent Belarusian rock 
stars.  Under municipal regulations, authorities can ban the 
concert as late as five days before July 27. 
 
¶14.  Minivan Owners Hunger Strike in Brest 
 
Eleven people in Brest are on hunger strike against an import tax 
on minivans.  Four private minivan owners began the fast on July 5. 
As of July 12, seven others, including minivan owners and their 
spouses, joined the hunger protest against fines imposed on them 
for failing to pay the minivan tax.  Economic courts in Brest and 
Minsk upheld the fines.  One hunger striker, Lyubov Rezanovich, 
told reporters, "We are not against the edict but against its 
incorrect interpretation.  Certain persons want to turn our strike 
into a political issue.  I would like to announce that there is no 
politics behind."  Minivan owners previously held such a strike in 
September 2005. 
 
¶15.  Almost 100 drown in Belarus, Seven in Brest Region in One Day 
 
According to Anatoly Golub, chairman of Belarus' national beach 
patrol organization, OSVOD, announced that 96 people, including 11 
under the age of 18, drowned in Belarus over the past week.  The 
largest number, about 25 people, drowned in rivers, lakes, and 
ponds throughout the Minsk region.  Meanwhile, seven people, 
including one child, drowned in the Brest region on July 11, the 
highest number of drowning fatalities registered in one day in the 
region this year.  According to OSVOD, most drownings occurred 
because of intoxication and swimming in unauthorized areas. 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶16.  After being sentenced to five and a half years of prison for 
"hooliganism," former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin 
declared: 
 
"Our country is turning into a penal colony. I have been opposing 
this system. Today we should aim at freedom for all Belarusian 
political prisoners, the entire Belarusian nation." 
 
KROL