VZCZCXRO9829
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHSK #0881/01 2261345
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141345Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4917
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 000881 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EPET EAGR ENRG KTDB BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - August 14, 2006 
 
 
MINSK 00000881  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by 
Embassy Minsk. 
 
----------------------- 
International Relations 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  Parliament Leader Receives Iranian Delegation 
 
   On August 9, Chairman of the Belarusian House of Representatives 
Vladimir Konoplev received a delegation led by Iran's Ministry of 
Industry and Mines, Ali-Reza Tahmashi.  During the meeting, 
Konoplev maintained Iran and Belarus have no political differences 
and predicted a tripling of bilateral trade between the countries. 
Tahmashi echoed Konoplev's sentiments and noted Iran looks forward 
to President Lukashenko's visit to Tehran.  In separate news 
reports, the Iranian ambassador to Belarus indicated Iranian 
President Ahmadinejad plans to visit Belarus in "the near future." 
The Iranian delegation also attended the dedication ceremony of a 
plant originally built by Ford near Minsk that will assemble a 
luxury version of the "Samand," an Iranian car powered by a 1.8 
liter Peugeot engine which will sell for USD 12,500 each. 
 
 
¶3.  Parliamentary Committee Endorses Free Trade Accord with Ukraine 
 
On August 9, the Standing Committee on International Affairs and 
Relations in Belarus' House of Representatives recommended 
ratification of a free trade agreement between Belarus and Ukraine. 
Deputy Foreign Minister Vasily Pugachev predicted the agreement 
would increase Belarusian exports to Ukraine, which at present 
total USD 1.6 billion.  Belarus and Ukraine originally signed the 
agreement in 1992 but the Belarusian parliament never ratified the 
accord.  In 2005, the two countries signed a protocol to clarify 
provisions of the 1992 agreement. 
 
----------------- 
Political Parties 
----------------- 
 
¶4.  Opposition Communist Party Seeks Invalidation of Merger 
 
On August 10, the leadership of the Belarusian Party of Communists 
(BPC) petitioned the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to invalidate a 
controversial convention at which the pro-government Communist 
Party of Belarus (CPB) proclaimed a merger with the BPC.  Following 
a "merger conference" on July 15, the CPB re-registered several BPC 
local organizations as CPB chapters.  The BPC urged the MOJ to 
examine the minutes of the merger conference and declare it 
illegal.  According to BPC Central Committee Secretary Yelena 
Skrigan, no more than seven BPC members participated in the 
convention despite CPB's claim that 74 BPC members were involved. 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶5.  Convicted NGO Partnership Leaders Transferred to Minsk 
Detention 
 
On August 10, convicted election observers Nikolay Astreyko and 
Timofey Dranchuk were transferred from the BKGB detention center to 
the pretrial detention center on Volodarskogo Street in Minsk. 
Astreyko and Dranchuk, as well as two others, Aleksandr Shalayko 
and Enira Bronitskaya, were convicted of running an unregistered 
organization "Partnerstvo" (Partnership) following a closed-door 
trial.  Astreiko and Dranchuk were sentenced to two years and one 
year, respectively, in a minimum security correctional institution. 
The four stood accused under Part 2 of the Criminal Code's Article 
193, but were convicted under Article 193.1. 
 
¶6.  Opposition Party Leader Briefly Detained in Mogilev 
 
On August 10, opposition United Civic Party leader (UCP) Anatoly 
Lebedko and UCP Deputy Chairman Igor Shinkarik were detained by 
police for an hour and a half during their visit to Mogilev. 
Police detained the opposition leaders as they were distributing 
copies of the most recent issue of "Narodnaya Volya" that featured 
an article by Lebedko. The officers asked the UCP leaders where 
they had gotten the newspaper copies.  Lebedko and Shinkarik were 
in Mogilev to meet with Artur Finkevich, an opposition youth 
serving a sentence of two years of "restricted freedom" at a 
correctional facility.  However, they did not succeed in meeting 
him as he had temporarily been moved elsewhere. 
 
 
¶7.  Authorities in Western Belarus Crack Down of Human Trafficking 
 
On August 7, police in the western region of Brest reported the 
break up of six human trafficking rings in the first six months of 
¶2006.  During that period, authorities completed 13 criminal cases 
 
MINSK 00000881  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
and charged five persons with human trafficking and four others 
with illegally employing Belarusians abroad.   On August 6, 
Belarusian police arrested a German couple at the Belarusian-Polish 
border for allegedly attempting to traffic two Belarusian women for 
prostitution. 
 
¶8.  Five Hunger Strikers in Brest End Fast 
 
On August 9, five hunger strikers in Brest ended their fast as a 
display of solidarity with fellow protestor Lyubov Rezanovich who 
was hospitalized two days earlier.  Rezanovich had been refusing 
food since July 5 and began refusing water in early August.  On 
August 8, she was admitted to the first medical unit of the Brest 
City Central Hospital, which describes her condition as grave. 
Four taxi minibus owners began the hunger strike in early July to 
protest penalties that had been imposed on them for failure to pay 
taxes on their minibuses.  Authorities reportedly exempted 
minibuses imported before April 2004 from taxes but later ordered 
the owners to pay USD 9,000 to USD 27,000.  Nine persons continue 
the hunger strike. 
 
------- 
Economy 
------- 
 
¶9.  Business Group Complains to Lukashenko about Telecom Monoply 
 
On August 9, the Minsk City Association of Entrepreneurs and 
Employers sent a letter of complaint to Belarusian President 
Lukashenko about telecommunication monopoly Beltelecom's anti- 
competitive behavior and urged Lukashenko to establish an agency to 
oversee the enforcement of competition laws.  On August 1, 
Beltelecom raised fees for its point-to-point connection service 
offered to private Internet providers.  Beltelecom has raised its 
fees for Internet providers by 40 percent and cut its charges for 
individual clients by between 10 and 40 percent since the beginning 
of the year.  Independent economist Yaroslav Romanchuk predicts 
that Beltelecom would gain USD 10 million from the most recent 
price hike. 
 
¶10.  Fixed Capital Expenditures on Food Industry Below Target 
 
On August 10, the Belarusian State Food Industry Concern 
(Belgospishcheprom) reported that capital expenditures on the 
Belarusian food industry fell by 40 percent below the GOB target 
level in the first six months of 2006.  According to 
Belgopishcheprom, fixed expenditures totaled USD 25 million, with 
the target set at USD 43 million for the period.  The GOB had 
projected an investment of USD 10 billion of fixed capital 
expenditures in the food industry this year.   Belgopishcheprom 
attributed the shortfall to late purchases of equipment and failure 
to obtain government loans but noted that modernization is under 
way at several regional brewing companies, sugar refineries, and 
tobacco and salt factories. 
 
¶11.  Belarusian Steel Works Claims 9.3 Percent Rise in Steel Output 
 
On August 9, the Belarusian Steel Works (BMZ) in Zhlobin reported a 
steel output of 1,280,100 tons between January and July, an 
increase 9.3 percent from the same period last year.  Exports were 
projected to rise by 12.9 percent to USD 550 million.  BMZ 
purportedly ranks among the top five steel manufacturers in the 
Commonwealth of Independent States and reported a 10.5-percent rise 
in exports in 2005. 
 
¶12.  Low Cost Housing to Increase 80 Percent by 2010 
 
On August 10, Belarusian Minister of Architecture and Construction 
Aleksandr Seleznev promised significant increases in affordable 
housing by 2010.  According to Seleznev, low-price housing, defined 
as costing USD 350 to 400 per square meter, accounts for 30 to 35 
percent of the total volume of new housing.  Seleznev predicted the 
construction of 4.2 million square meters of low-cost housing, 
about 80 percent of all new housing, and a shortage of "elite, 
expensive housing" by 2010.  He argued that the construction sector 
would cut the cost of new housing through energy and material 
saving measures, the standardization of home design specifications 
throughout Belarus, and new presidential edicts ostensibly intended 
to promote competitive bidding. 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶13.  Noting that Belarus' grain harvest would barely exceed seven 
million tons in 2006, President Lukashenko lamented: 
 
"Seven million tons is enough for a normal life. However, for a 
very good life and future we need eight million tons.  It is high 
time to provide people with eight million tons.  Unfortunately, 
neither the cabinet, nor the governors, nor peasants have learned 
 
MINSK 00000881  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
to gather eight million tons." 
 
Moore