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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 001245 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - December 4, 2006 
 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy 
Minsk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
CIVIL SOCIETY 
------------- 
 
- Milinkevich Meets Bush, Faces Two Months in Jail (para. 2) 
- Union of Left-wing Parties Favors Election Boycott (para. 3) 
- Youth Activists Attempt to Demonstrate During CIS Summit (para. 
4) 
- Foreign Travel Permits Could Be Abolished in 2007 (para. 5) 
- Neo-Nazis Want to Stop Belarusian-Language Theater (para. 6) 
- Brest Jewish Memorial Vandalized (para. 7) 
- Clinton Bench Damaged in Another Vandal Attack (para. 8) 
- Catholic Community Goes on Hunger Strike (para. 9) 
- Over 130 Employees to Quit Pro-GOB Trade Union (para. 10) 
 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 
----------------------- 
 
- Belarus Ready for European Union "Consultations" (para.11) 
- NATO Helps Belarus Destroy Landmines by December 5 (para. 12) 
- Authorities Allow UN Aid Fund to Provide More Money (para. 13) 
 
ECONOMICS 
--------- 
 
- Foreign Investment Up 150 Percent (para. 14) 
- Refinance Rate Cut to 10 Percent (para. 15) 
 
- QUOTE OF THE WEEK (para. 16) 
 
------------- 
CIVIL SOCIETY 
------------- 
 
¶2.  Milinkevich Meets Bush, Faces Two Months in Jail 
 
On November 28, opposition leader and former presidential 
candidate Aleksandr Milinkevich met briefly with U.S. President 
George W. Bush on the margins of the NATO Summit in Riga to 
discuss the political and human rights situation in Belarus. 
President Bush said that the U.S. would continue to support 
opposition groups in Belarus and expressed hope that democracy 
would soon be restored in the country.  The following day, Minsk 
airport authorities detained Milinkevich for approximately four 
hours upon his return and charged him with deliberately crossing 
the border using a forged document, a charge that carries a jail 
term of up to two months or a heavy fine.  Upon his initial 
departure from Belarus en route to Riga, Milinkevich had 
mistakenly given Belarusian border guards his son's passport. 
 
¶3.   Union of Left-wing Parties Favors Election Boycott 
 
On December 2, the Belarusian Party of Communists (BPC) approved 
the Declaration of the Formation of the Union of Left-wing Parties 
at a special convention held in Minsk.  The declaration united the 
BPC party, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (BSDP) 
"Gramada," and the Belarusian Women's Party "Nadzeya."  Claiming 
that the elections would be a farce, they also recommended pro- 
democratic contenders to withdraw from the race (septel). 
 
¶4.   Youth Activists Attempt to Demonstrate During CIS Summit 
 
On November 28, 13 youth opposition activists staged a 
demonstration during a meeting between President Lukashenko and 
Vladimir Putin on the margins of the CIS Summit in downtown Minsk. 
The activists formed a line and displayed images of imprisoned 
youth leaders Dmitriy Dashkevich and Artur Finkevich.  Police 
dispersed the demonstrators after a few minutes, but there were no 
reports of arrests. 
 
¶5.   Foreign Travel Permits Could be Abolished in 2007 
 
On November 28, State Border Troops Committee Chairman Aleksandr 
Pavlovskiy announced that Belarus' system of foreign travel 
permits could be abolished by December 30, 2007.  In 2002, the 
Constitutional Court recommended abolishing the travel permit 
system by January 1, 2006, since the requirement infringes on 
citizens' constitutional right to freedom of movement.  The GOB 
later requested that the Court extend the deadline on the grounds 
that it lacked a computer database of persons subject to travel 
restrictions. 
 
¶6.   Neo-Nazis Want to Stop Belarusian-Language Theater 
 
On November 29, Viktoriya Dashkevich, head of a puppet theater in 
the northern city of Vitebsk, reported that the neo-Nazi Russian 
National Unity group sent her a letter demanding that the theater 
 
MINSK 00001245  002 OF 003 
 
 
stop staging Belarusian-language plays and translate all plays 
into Russian on the grounds that Belarus will soon become a part 
of Russia.  Dashkevich plans to file a complaint with law- 
enforcement agencies over the letter. 
 
¶7.   Brest Jewish Memorial Vandalized 
 
On November 30, vandals burned flowers and wreaths on the Brest 
Jewish memorial dedicated to the extermination of the Brest 
ghetto, leaving the monument partially blackened by the smoke and 
flames.  Police are investigating the incident but have not opened 
a criminal case.  This is the sixth act of vandalism at the 
monument since its erection in 1992. 
 
¶8.   Clinton Bench Damaged in Another Vandal Attack 
 
On December 1, independent media reported that vandals damaged the 
Clinton Bench, a granite monument in the Kurapaty Stalin-era 
massacre site just outside Minsk.  The vandals threw the bench's 
granite slab off its concrete supports and scattered the flowers 
and candles that were placed on the bench. The bench, frequently 
attacked by vandals, was donated by President Bill Clinton in 1994 
on behalf of the United States. 
 
¶9.   Catholic Community Goes on Hunger Strike 
 
On December 1, priest Aleksandr Shemet and 11 women of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary Mother of Mercy community in Grodno commenced a hunger 
strike in protest against the local authorities' refusal to grant 
them permission for the construction of a church.  The community 
currently has more than 8,000 members and is forced to worship in 
two separate chapels that can only accommodate 320 people at a 
time. Shemet noted that embattled Protestant New Life Church 
inspired him to take such measures. 
 
¶10.  Over 130 Employees to Quit Pro-GOB Trade Union 
 
On November 29, independent media reported as many as 130 
employees of a state-run paper mill in the eastern Gomel region 
announced plans to quit the pro-government Forestry Industry 
Workers Union.  The employees are dissatisfied with the amount of 
their pay, workplace conditions and the insufficient supply of 
work gear.  The company claims that it cannot afford to offer new 
benefits or better wages because the mill's products have been 
priced out of the Russian market. 
 
----------------------- 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 
----------------------- 
 
¶11.  Belarus Ready for European Union "Consultations" 
 
On November 27, Presidential Administration Deputy Head Natalya 
Petkevich stated that Belarus is ready to begin "consultations" 
with the European Union on the GOB's progress on implementing ILO 
recommendations for labor reform.  Petkevich noted that the GOB 
has not received a reply to its letter to the European Commission 
in 2005 following the start of procedures for withdrawing Belarus 
from the benefits of the Generalized System of Preferences.  On 
November 21, the European Commission announced that the EU would 
offer more aid and trade to Belarus if the country demonstrated 
progress on democracy and human rights. 
 
¶12.  NATO Helps Belarus Destroy Landmines by December 5 
 
On November 29, independent media reported that Belarus plans to 
complete the destruction of its entire stockpile of TNT-containing 
anti-personnel landmines under the Ottawa mine ban treaty.  The 
NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency has funded a project in 
Belarus, which destroyed approximately 295,000 TNT-containing 
mines and converted several thousand of these mines into command- 
detonated mines which are not banned by the treaty.  The last 
remaining 240 TNT-containing mines are to be detonated on December 
¶5. 
 
¶13.  Authorities Allow UN Aid Fund to Provide More Money 
 
On November 29, the Ministry of Economics has reportedly allowed 
the United Nations Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and 
Malaria to provide additional funds for its HIV/AIDS prevention 
and treatment project launched in late 2004.  The Global Fund 
reportedly pledged to provide USD 9.5 million for the second stage 
of the project scheduled to start on December 1.  It made 
available USD 6.8 million for its first stage.  The ministry 
reported that every person living with the virus has access to 
treatment in Belarus.  As many as 7,660 Belarusians have been 
diagnosed as HIV-infected as of early November 2006 with only 
about 500 HIV-infected people in Belarus receiving anti-retroviral 
treatment under the project. 
 
--------- 
 
MINSK 00001245  003 OF 003 
 
 
ECONOMICS 
--------- 
 
¶14.  Foreign Investment Reported Up 150 Percent 
 
On November 27, the Ministry of Economics reported that foreign 
investment in Belarus increased 150 percent over the last year to 
USD 2.8 billion from January through September.  The share of 
direct investment in all foreign investment inflows reportedly 
totaled 18.7 percent, or 49.1 percent more than in the same period 
of the previous year.  The Ministry reported that loans accounted 
for 80.2 percent of all direct investment inflows.  Investment in 
projects specified in the government's investment program totaled 
USD 4.2 million in the first 10 months of 2006. 
 
¶15.  Refinance Rate Cut to 10 Percent 
 
On November 29, independent media reported that the National Bank 
of Belarus (NBB) will lower its base refinance rate by 0.5 
percentage point to 10 percent on December 1.  According to the 
NBB, the reduction is aimed at making bank loans cheaper and is 
possible due to the deceleration of inflation.  Belarus' consumer 
prices reportedly rose by 3.8 percent in January through October 
of 2006, rising by 0.4 percent per month on average.  In the same 
period of the previous year, consumer prices increased by 5.6 
percent, increasing by 0.5 percent per month on average, according 
to official statistics. 
 
 
----------------- 
QUOTE OF THE WEEK 
----------------- 
 
¶16. On November 30, while unveiling his party's municipal election 
platform for local economic development, opposition United Civic 
Party Chair Anatoliy Lebedko offered the following observation: 
 
"We do not need a country going back to the past - a country where 
officials and politicians set prices, share subsidies and appoint 
leaders for us.  We do not need an economy creating `phony' 
statistics and luxury villas for `the people's servants." 
 
Stewart