VZCZCXRO5360
RR RUEHAST RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSK #0261/01 0851135
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261135Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5835
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 000261 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EPET ENRG BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - MARCH 22, 2007 
 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy 
Minsk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 
----------------------- 
 
- German MP Zapf Seeks Dialogue with Regime (para. 2) 
- GOB Delegation Arrives in Venezuela (para. 3) 
- New Ukrainian Ambassador Meets Foreign Minister (para. 4) 
 
CIVIL SOCIETY 
------------- 
 
- Supreme Court Defies UNHCR Decision (para. 5) 
- Police Arrest Opposition Malady Front Activist (para. 6) 
- Polish Reporter Jailed for 10 Days (para. 7) 
 
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT 
---------------------------------- 
 
- GOB Offers Russian Oil Traders 90 Percent Subsidy (para. 8) 
 
DOMESTIC ECONOMY 
---------------- 
 
- First Nationalization of 2007 (para. 9) 
- GOB Tightens E-Commerce Regulations (para. 10) 
- Belarus' 2006 Tax burden Down One Percent from 2005 (para. 11) 
 
SOCIETY 
------- 
 
- Protestors Demand Return of Former Monastery (para. 12) 
 
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (para. 13) 
 
----------------------- 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  German MP Zapf Seeks Closer GOB and Opposition Relations 
 
On March 16, Head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's ad hoc group 
on Belarus and German MP Uta Zapf called for better relations 
between the government and the opposition during an OSCE workshop in 
Minsk.  Zapf lauded the Belarusian government for permitting 
"opposition" politicians and NGO representatives to participate. 
Although attending GOB officials insisted that "all is right" in 
Belarus, she described their participation as a sign of progress 
insofar as they sat down together with critics of the government. 
Democratic opposition members expressed objections to her visit.  In 
a briefing with OSCE diplomats before her departure from Minsk, she 
reluctantly acknowledged having made no true progress. 
 
¶3.  GOB Delegation Arrives in Venezuela 
 
On March 19, Security Council State Secretary Viktar Sheyman led a 
GOB delegation to Venezuela for seven days of talks.  Sheyman is 
expected to meet with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and other 
government officials to discuss political, military, and economic 
cooperation, including oil production, refining, power generation, 
construction and agriculture.  In July 2006, Chavez visited Minsk to 
discuss long-term strategic partnerships.  In September 2006, a 
Belarusian delegation signed technical and defense agreements that 
would reportedly total more than USD 1 billion if implemented. 
 
¶4.  New Ukrainian Ambassador Meets Foreign Minister 
 
On March 21, newly appointed Ambassador of Ukraine to Belarus Ihor 
Likhovyy presented copies of his credentials to Foreign Minister 
Sergey Martynov.  However, the Ukrainian Embassy indicated that it 
remains unclear whether President Lukashenko will receive Likhovyy. 
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko appointed Likhovyy, a former 
Minister of Culture and Tourism, as Ambassador to Belarus in early 
February.  The position had been vacant since May 2006.  Born on 
June 12, 1957, Likhovyy headed the Kanev Nature Reserve between 1989 
and 2005 and served as Minister of Culture and Tourism between 
October 2005 and November 2006. 
 
------------- 
CIVIL SOCIETY 
------------- 
 
¶5.  Supreme Court Defies UNHCR Decision 
 
On March 17, independent media outlets reported that the Supreme 
Court refused to examine the GOB's non-compliance with the UN Human 
Rights Council's (HRC) ruling to allow the liquidated regional NGO 
Civil Initiatives to resume its activities.  After the GOB took no 
 
MINSK 00000261  002 OF 003 
 
 
steps to follow the HRC's decision, NGO activists filed a complaint 
with the Supreme Court.  The HRC ruled that the forced closure in 
June 2003 was illegal, inconsistent with Belarus' commitments under 
international treaties, and mandated the GOB to provide compensation 
to Civil Initiatives Head Viktor Korniyenko.  Korniyenko intends to 
file another complaint. 
 
¶6.  Police Arrest Opposition Malady Front Activist 
 
On March 21, police arrested Malady Front opposition leader Boris 
Goretskiy on suspicion of acting on behalf of an unregistered 
organization.  On March 13, BKGB officers conducted searches of his 
apartment and that of his parents.  If found guilty, Goretskiy faces 
up to two years in prison. 
 
¶7.  Polish Reporter Jailed for 10 Days 
 
On March 21, Judge Natalya Kozel in the western city of Grodno 
sentenced Igor Bantsyr, a reporter for the independent 
Polish-language magazine "Magazyn Polski na Uchodzstwie," to 10 days 
in prison for "uncensored swearing" in public.  Bantsyr denies the 
accusation.  The magazine's editor, Andrey Pochobut, contended that 
the authorities sought to prevent Bantsyr from reporting on how the 
arresting officers harassed bystanders the previous evening. 
Bantsyr has written several recent articles critical of local 
authorities in the magazine, which is distributed to the Belarus' 
ethnic Polish minority. 
 
 
---------------------------------- 
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  GOB Offers Russian Oil Traders 90 Percent Subsidy 
 
According to independent media, the GOB informally announced on 
March 14 it would provide Russian oil traders selling crude on a 
tolling basis with a subsidy of 90 percent of Russia's USD 53 export 
duty for Belarus.  The parties reached the agreement on export 
duties in early in 2007 following Russia and Belarus' tense energy 
standoff.  The accord reportedly made crude oil shipments for 
refining on a tolling basis unprofitable. 
 
---------------- 
DOMESTIC ECONOMY 
---------------- 
 
¶9.  First Nationalization of 2007 
 
On March 20, the GOB issued a resolution to apply the "golden share 
rule" to a furniture factory in the Minsk region.  The rule allows 
authorities to seize property, except for banks, if the government 
owned at least one share at any time.  Russian investors' share in 
the factory is 40 percent, while the GOB holds only 19 percent.  The 
reasoning provided by the government for Belarus' first application 
of the golden share rule in 2007 was typical; poor management and 
economic losses.  Press reports the Securities Department of the 
Ministry of Finance has submitted a proposal to abolish the golden 
share rule. 
 
¶10.  GOB Tightens E-Commerce Regulations 
 
On March 19, the GOB implemented new regulations that require 
Belarusian e-trade retailers to register a domain name in the domain 
address space with the State Center for Information Security under 
the President.  The new regulations do not establish procedures for 
domain name extensions.  Trade Ministry officials claim that new 
measures aim at securing consumers' rights, economic interests of 
Belarus, and target shadow imports and tax evasion. 
 
¶11.  Belarus' 2006 Tax Burden Down One Percent from 2005 
 
Belarus' Tax Ministry announced on March 14 that the share of taxes 
in Belarus' GDP in 2006 decreased 0.9 percent on the year to 42.8 
percent.  Taxes, social insurance payments and tariffs totaled 30 
percent, 11.7 percent, and 1.1 percent of GDP respectively. 
Indirect taxes (VAT, sales, excise), direct taxes (income, profit, 
and real estate), and miscellaneous taxes (land, ecology and 
innovation fund payments) made up 17.8, 9.2, and 4.1 percent of GDP 
respectively. 
 
------- 
SOCIETY 
------- 
 
¶12.  Protestors Demand Return of Former Monastery 
 
On March 20, approximately 130 members of the St. Joseph Roman 
Catholic community gathered for prayers at a former Bernardine 
monastery in the center of Minsk, which currently houses the State 
Archives.  Since learning in 2004 that local authorities plan to 
 
MINSK 00000261  003 OF 003 
 
 
transform the building into a five-star hotel, the community has 
been organizing daily prayers in front of the building.  Since March 
7, they have collected more 3,000 signatures to petition President 
Lukashenko to return the monastery to the community. 
 
----------------- 
QUOTE OF THE WEEK 
----------------- 
 
¶13.  On March 19, the Supreme Certification Commission officially 
rejected a dissertation on post-WWII Belarus by dissident Belarusian 
State University doctoral candidate Irina Kashtalyan on the 
following grounds: 
 
"The material is intended to lead the reader to the conclusion that 
the Soviet state was not a natural mother but an evil, heartless 
stepmother for the Belarusian people and that the operation of this 
monster state contravened human nature." 
 
Stewart