VZCZCXRO6190
RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSK #1164/01 3050947
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 010947Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5293
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1331
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 001164 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2016 
TAGS: ECON PGOV BO
SUBJECT: SATISFYING THE MARKET IN A STATE-DOMINATED ECONOMY 
 
REF: MINSK 1142 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Karen Stewart for reason 1.4 (d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) Profitable Belarusian businesses, even if they are 
completely privately owned, must respond in large part to the 
dictates of the state.  This is especially true when private 
companies try to compete in the same markets with state-owned 
enterprises.  The complex business environment, which even 
includes the risk of nationalization of property, partially 
shields local business from foreign entrants into their 
markets.  Business can delicately lobby for piecemeal 
economic reforms, but have to couch their efforts in terms of 
the health of their entire industry.  In doing so, business 
leaders demonstrate their tacit acceptance of Lukashenko's 
statist economic model.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Emboffs spoke to executives in several of the most 
visible firms in Minsk catering to clients at the upper end 
of the economic spectrum: Viktor Petrovich, Director and 
partner in the holding company Tabak Invest, which opened 
Minsk's newest hypermarket; Inna Maslennikova, General 
Director of Merlintour, a travel agency specializing in 
individualized foreign tours; Sergey Kusonovskiy, Deputy 
Director of Milavitsa, a lingerie manufacturer and retailer 
focusing on the middle class and "middle class plus" market 
segments; Aleksey Dunayevskiy, Director of Sales and 
Marketing for Mir Fitnessa, the only gym in Minsk in a 
purpose built facility; Igor Razumovskiy, the General 
Director of Avtosalon-AV, the exclusive dealer in Belarus for 
Audi and Porsche; Aleksandr Parkhimchik, owner of several 
restaurants in Minsk; and Vitaliy Arbuzov of Fenox, a holding 
company for grocery stores and food imports. 
 
Competition?  What Competition?  The State Worries Us 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶3. (C) All of the business leaders we spoke with believe 
their enterprises will continue to grow (reftel).  The 
absence of worries about competitors accounts for much of the 
optimism.  Executives forecast their markets will expand 
further, creating plenty of room for sales growth.  This 
helps soften the resentment against regulations that greatly 
increase the cost of business.  Merlintour, to take one case, 
has to employ five accountants to satisfy the reporting 
requirements of multiple agencies.  Without regulations 
peculiar to Belarus, the company could get by with one or two 
accountants. 
 
¶4. (C) All the businesses we surveyed had by definition 
successfully navigated the labyrinth of regulation by 
maintaining close ties with the government.  For example, the 
newest hypermarket in town, Korona, is owned by Tabak Invest, 
which reaps huge profits by annually winning government 
tenders to import cigarettes.  The annual import quota is 
well below demand.  Similarly, Arbuzov's company received 
part of the quota to import frozen fish into Belarus.  The 
majority owner of Mir Fitnessa is the state-owned 
Belvneshekonombank. 
 
¶5. (C) Successful business leaders feel comfortable dealing 
with bureaucracy as long as they do so on a level playing 
field with competitors.  When private Belarusian businesses 
share a market with state enterprises, they run the risk of 
increased government interference.  Merlintour, like all tour 
agents, must assist the largely state-owned hotel industry by 
generating at least ten percent of its revenues from selling 
in-bound tours.  The limits of markets with state-owned 
competitors drove Tabak Invest to diversify from the 
cigarette market, in which it must subsidize loss-making 
state companies producing cheap Soviet-era brands, into 
markets with no state-owned competitor: hypermarkets and 
personal helicopters. 
 
¶6. (C) The less than welcoming business climate helps 
existing businesses by increasing the cost for new entrants. 
Petrov said Russian companies flush with money are just now 
entering the hypermarket business in Minsk, but West European 
competitors are still too fearful to take the risk. 
Dunayevskiy remarked even Russian companies do not want to 
deal with the complex procedures for opening a fitness center 
in Minsk.  Restauranteur Parkhimchik and entrepreneur Arbuzov 
said the temporary constraints against Russian competition 
helped their businesses. 
 
Lobbyists Seek Safety in Numbers or Internal GOB Divisions 
 
MINSK 00001164  002 OF 002 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Keeping the government happy does not mean accepting 
all its decisions blindly.  Industry associations allow 
businesses to approach the government with united positions, 
and sometimes result in meaningful changes in policy. 
Razumovskiy said the auto dealers association help draft 
legislation greatly reducing the tariffs on importing new 
cars. 
 
¶8. (C) Milavitsa, as the dominant garment exporter in 
Belarus, maintains a close working relationship with a 
ministry-level state agency, Bellegprom, which helps it 
negotiate with the Ministry of Economics.  Working thru 
Bellegprom, Milavitsa succeeded in getting itself removed 
from the list of monopolistic companies, thereby avoiding 
further regulation of its pricing.  Milavitsa also worked 
with Bellegprom to convince the government that the garment 
industry is in worse shape than agriculture.  This swayed the 
GOB to return "agriculture support taxes" from companies in 
the garment industry back to the industry itself, rather than 
to support agriculture. 
 
The Worst Case Scenario: Nationalization 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) A complete failure to keep the government happy risks 
a company's very existence.  In fact, press had speculated 
that placing Milavitsa on the list of monopolistic companies 
was a first step toward nationalization, with the next step 
being driving prices down to the point where the company was 
no longer profitable.  The lack of a culture of respect for 
private property worries entrepreneurs.  Arbuzov said he 
keeps no assets in his own name to reduce the risk of 
confiscation. 
 
Comment: Would-be Capitalists Still Fulfill the Plan 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶10. (C) While the demand for high-end consumer goods 
definitely exists (reftel), to one degree or another firms 
meeting this demand must also fit within Lukashenko's 
economic plan for Belarusian development.  While often 
thought of as focusing on paying pensions on time and 
producing big machines, this unwritten plan includes 
showcasing successful Belarusian companies on billboards on 
the way in from the airport (Milavitsa was "strongly 
encouraged" to advertise) and the presence of some well-known 
foreign brands. 
 
¶11. (C) Although entrepreneurial-minded Belarusians are able 
and willing to fulfill Lukashenko's plan in cases where 
genuine demand exists, they also must put up with regulation 
and taxation designed to support the rest of the plan. 
Entrepreneurs have managed the burden over the past decade of 
strong economic growth.  How they will manage during an 
economic downturn if Russia withdraws generous energy 
subsidies may be quite another story. 
 
Stewart 
Stewart