VZCZCXRO0291
RR RUEHAST RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSK #0272/01 0891355
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301355Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5850
INFO RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY COOPERATION IN EUROPE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000272 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EPET ENRG BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - MARCH 29, 2007 
 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy 
Minsk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 
----------------------- 
 
- Bodies from GOB Plane Attacked in Somalia to Return (para. 2) 
- Venezuela Considers Buying Missiles from Belarus (para. 3) 
 
CIVIL SOCIETY 
------------- 
 
- Lukashenko Claims to Ease GOB Press Access (para. 4) 
- Opposition Youth Activist Formally Charged (para. 5) 
- Opposition Politician Cleared of Petty Hooliganism (para. 6) 
 
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT 
---------------------------------- 
 
- Russian Bank to Buy Stake in Belarusian Bank (para. 7) 
- GOB Seeks to Double Foreign Investment (para. 8) 
- ABN Amro to Be GOB Sovereign Credit Rating Consultant (para. 9) 
 
DOMESTIC ECONOMY 
---------------- 
 
- Belarus' Average Salary Drops 0.5 Percent (para. 10) 
- Belarus' Mineral Fertilizer Output Up 3.6 Percent (para. 11) 
 
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (para. 12) 
 
----------------------- 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  Bodies from GOB Plane Attacked in Somalia to Return 
 
Belarus' Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates confirmed that the 
bodies of 11 Belarusians killed in an apparent missile attack 
against a Belarusian transport plane in Somalia would arrive in 
Minsk on March 30.  The GOB-owned Transaviaexport cargo airline 
dispatched the IL-76 aircraft to retrieve equipment from another 
Belarusian transport plane hit with a projectile on March 12. 
 
¶3.  Venezuela Considers Buying Missiles from Belarus 
 
On March 26, following his talks with Belarusian Security Council 
State Secretary Viktar Sheyman, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez on 
Sunday announced that Caracas could purchase anti-aircraft missile 
systems from Belarus.  Chavez praised his country's arms cooperation 
with Belarus and China as a means to offset the USG's May 2006 ban 
on weapon exports to Venezuela.  Venezuela's legislature recently 
ratified an agreement on military and technical cooperation with 
Belarus.  During Chavez's July 2006 visit to Belarus, the 
Minsk-based Tetraedr defense industry enterprise promised to 
showcase its short-range anti-aircraft missile system for the 
Venezuelan army at an exhibition in Minsk this May. 
 
------------- 
CIVIL SOCIETY 
------------- 
 
¶4.  Lukashenko Claims to Ease GOB Press Access 
 
On March 28, President Lukashenko pledged no further restrictions on 
the media's contacts with GOB officials and promised that 
journalists would obtain the same amount of information they had 
been obtaining earlier or "even more." Lukashenko was responding to 
a report about a confidential letter signed by Deputy Prime Minister 
Andrey Kabyakov that threatened punishment against officials whose 
comments given to the media contain "biased" or "incorrect" coverage 
of the country's economic situation.  The confidential letter was 
posted on several websites on February 28 and warned that officials 
whose remarks appearing in newspapers and other media outlets 
misrepresented the economic situation would face disciplinary 
action. 
 
¶5.  Opposition Youth Activist Formally Charged 
 
On March 28, authorities formally charged opposition youth 
organization Malady Front leader Dmitriy Fedaruk, with acting on 
behalf of an unregistered organization, a charge which carries a 
fine or a prison sentence of up to two years.  Police apprehended 
Fedaruk with 26 other youth activists during a raid on a private 
apartment in Minsk on February 4 and released him three days later. 
On November 1, 2006, opposition youth leader Dmitriy Dashkevich was 
sentenced to 18 months in a minimum-security correctional 
institution on the same charge. 
 
 
MINSK 00000272  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6.  Opposition Politician Cleared of Petty Hooliganism 
 
On March 26, a judge in the eastern city of Gomel cleared opposition 
politician Yuriy Glukashov of a petty hooliganism charge.  On March 
23, an unknown person reportedly feigned that Glukashov had kicked 
him.  Police present at the scene immediately arrested the activist, 
who described his detention as an effort by authorities to prevent 
his participation in the March 25 demonstration. 
 
---------------------------------- 
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  Russian Bank to Buy Stake in Belarusian Bank 
 
On March 27, Belarus' sixth largest bank, Belvneshekonombank, 
reported that Russia's Vneshekonombank would purchase 48.5 percent 
of its GOB-owned shares.  The agreement was reportedly reached in 
December of last year at the meeting between the Russian bank's CEO 
and President Lukashenko. 
 
¶8.  GOB Seeks to Double Foreign Investment 
 
On March 27, Belarus' Minister of Economics Nikolay Zaychenko said 
the GOB drafted a resolution aimed at increasing investment by 17 
percent, which would double the GOB's original target.  The 
resolution will exempt equipment imported as a contribution to 
charter funds from VAT and customs payments.  This reestablishes 
some of the benefits available to foreign investors under Belarus' 
Investment Code that were revoked two years ago.  In addition, the 
resolution provides for lower interest on foreign loans (subsidies, 
exemptions, etc.), zero import tariffs on some equipment, and 
purchases without compulsory tenders and easier access to land for 
investment projects. 
 
¶9.  GOB Selects Sovereign Credit Rating Consultant 
 
Belarus' Finance Ministry told Prime TASS news service on March 27 
that Belarus has chosen the Netherlands' ABN Amro as a sovereign 
credit rating consultant.  Belarus wants a sovereign credit rating 
to be assigned by July in order to attract international lending. 
 
---------------- 
DOMESTIC ECONOMY 
---------------- 
 
¶10.  Belarus' Average Salary Drops 0.5 Percent 
 
On March 28, Belarus' Labor Ministry announced that the country's 
nominal average monthly salary equaled USD 287 in February, down 0.5 
percent on the month.  In the agricultural sector, nominal salaries 
dropped 0.8 percent to USD 161.  Average salary of administrative 
workers went up 0.2 percent to USD 377.  Meanwhile, consumer prices 
increased 0.8 percent after a 1.8 percent increase in January. 
 
¶11.  Belarus' Mineral Fertilizer Output Up 3.6 Percent 
 
On March 28, the Belarusian Statistics Ministry announced Belarus' 
January-February output of mineral fertilizers increased 3.6 percent 
on the year to 1.057 million tons.  Potash fertilizer output 
increased 2 percent to 894,500 tons, phosphate fertilizers 12.7 
percent to 31,900 tons, and nitrogen fertilizers 12.7 percent to 
130,900 tons.  Meanwhile, the combined January-February output of 
Belarus' chemical and petrochemical industry went up 9 percent. 
 
----------------- 
QUOTE OF THE WEEK 
----------------- 
 
¶12.  During a March 28 press conference, President Lukashenko 
offered this guidance into preventing misinformation in the press: 
 
"It is not necessary [to restrict] journalists, but the various 
chatterboxes in the government who do not the current situation but 
attempt to give out [incorrect] information." 
 
Moore