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RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSK #0601/01 1941100
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131100Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6260
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY COOPERATION IN EUROPE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000601 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EPET ENRG BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - July 13, 2007 
 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy 
Minsk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Civil Society 
------------- 
- Top Election Official Rules Out Dialogue with Opposition (para. 
2) 
- Civil Society Activist Loses Lawsuit, Remains Expelled (para. 3) 
- Youth Opposition Activist Faces Jail Term (para. 4) 
- Brest Authorities Ban Kozulin Demonstration (para. 5) 
- Independent Journalists Honor Disappeared Colleague (para. 6) 
- Opposition Activist Fined Over Poetry (para. 7) 
- Opposition Conference Attendees Questioned (para. 8) 
- MF Denied Registration Again (para. 9) 
- Religious Activists File Complaints (para. 10) 
 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
- Belarus' Property Vouchers Extended Till 2010 (para. 11) 
- Customs Double Payments to State Budget (para. 12) 
- International Reserves Up 70 Percent (para. 13) 
- Consumer Prices Increase .43 Percent in June (para. 14) 
 
Quote of the Week (para. 15) 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
 ¶2. Top Election Official Rules Out Dialogue with Opposition 
 
Head of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Lidiya Yermoshina on 
July 5 ruled out the possibility of CEC dialogue with the opposition 
on amendments to electoral regulations.  According to Yermoshina, 
only equally strong parties with "similar power ratings" were able 
to hold a dialogue [with the CEC].  Moreover, Yermoshina did not see 
what there was to discuss.  The CEC head hailed Belarus' electoral 
regulations for following major OSCE norms and standards and 
stipulating foreign and domestic observation and monitoring. 
Yermoshina dismissed OSCE's recommendations on electoral procedures, 
arguing that they were numerous and often contradictory.  Speaking 
about 2008 parliamentary elections, Yermoshina noted that the CEC 
would schedule them for October 2008. 
 
¶3. Civil Society Activist Loses Lawsuit, Remains Expelled 
 
On July 5, Yuri Aleinik lost an appeal over his May 15 expulsion 
from the Presidential Management Academy for 22 alleged unexcused 
absences.  The judge ruled that the Academy was accountable to the 
president and, therefore, did not fall under the court's 
jurisdiction.  Lawyers from the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) 
accused authorities of expelling Aleinik for his civil society 
activities.  More than 250 fellow students signed a petition 
supporting Aleinik, but the Academy rector refused to receive him 
and the Presidential Administration would not review his complaints. 
 Aleinik will appeal to the Minsk City Court and the UN Human Rights 
Council. 
 
¶4. Youth Opposition Activist Faces Jail Term 
 
On July 6, Soligorsk authorities formally charged 16-year-old Malady 
Front (MF) activist Ivan Shilo with acting on behalf of an 
unregistered organization.  He faces up to two years imprisonment. 
The prosecutor's office required Shilo to write a pledge not to 
leave the city until after the trial scheduled for August 10.  Shilo 
claims that much of the evidence against him was baseless and 
contradictory. 
 
¶5. Brest Authorities Ban Kozulin Demonstration 
 
Brest authorities on July 9 granted members of the Belarusian Social 
Democratic Party (BSDP) permission to hold a demonstration on July 
10 in support of imprisoned former presidential hopeful Aleksandr 
Kozulin, but only at the sports stadium on the outskirts of the city 
and not on city streets or squares.  The BSDP found the location 
"unfeasible" and plan to appeal the authorities' decision. 
 
¶6. Independent Journalists Honor Disappeared Colleague 
 
The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) on July 7 held a 
ceremony to commemorate camera operator and journalist Dmitry 
Zavadskiy who disappeared seven years ago.  BAJ members laid flowers 
at Zavadskiy's former residence and greeted his mother.  According 
to a BAJ representative, July 7 has become a day of professional 
integrity for journalists who continue Zavadskiy's work in reporting 
unbiased and truthful information.  BAJ also expressed hope that the 
GOB would one day investigate Zavadskiy's disappearance and hold 
accountable those responsible.  Zavadskiy, once President 
 
MINSK 00000601  002 OF 003 
 
 
Lukashenko's personal camera operator, disappeared on July 7, 2000, 
at the Minsk National Airport at the age of 28. 
 
¶7. Opposition Activist Fined for Poetry 
 
On July 8, Vitebsk authorities fined opposition activist Boris 
Khomaida USD 145 for allegedly staging an unauthorized demonstration 
in the city center.  Earlier that day, Khomaida stood downtown with 
a poster carrying lines from a poem written by prominent Belarusian 
national poet Yanka Kupala to draw attention to the poet's 125th 
birthday.  Khomaida has been fined and arrested several times for 
his opposition activities and distribution of independent 
newspapers. 
 
¶8. Opposition Conference Attendees Questioned 
 
Former de-facto opposition leader Aleksandr Milinkevich's press 
office on July 9 reported that attendees of his May 20 "For Freedom 
Movement" founding conference in Grodno were summoned to the local 
ideology departments and ordered to write reports on the conference. 
 Milinkevich linked the questionings to his attempts to register the 
movement and argued that the ideology officers abused their power by 
questioning the For Freedom activists. 
 
¶9. MF Denied Registration Again 
 
The GOB on July 10 denied MF's latest request for official 
registration.  Authorities denied MF registration in May due to 
"clerical errors" on the application, which MF spokesperson Boris 
Goretsky explained were corrected and resubmitted in the latest 
request.  Goretsky vowed that MF would appeal the authorities' 
decision, maintaining that the GOB deliberately refuses MF 
registration. 
 
¶10. Religious Activists File Complaints 
 
On July 6-10, Christian Democratic Party member Denis Sadovskiy and 
Protestant lawyer Sergey Lukanin filed complaints to the Minsk 
district court over a July 3 police raid on Sadovskiy's apartment 
and their brief detentions (with four other Protestants) while 
campaigning to change the 2002 religion law.  Sadovskiy claimed that 
the police broke into his apartment, seized his personal belongings 
and Protestant books without witnesses present, and insulted and 
beat him before holding him at the detention center for six hours. 
Police failed to produce identification or official grounds for the 
search.  Police apprehended Lukanin two hours after Sadovskiy's 
arrest when he rushed to the apartment to prevent the confiscation 
of Sadovskiy's property and campaign papers. 
 
---------------- 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
¶11. Belarus' Property Vouchers Extended Till 2010 
 
On July 7, the GOB extended the validity of privatization vouchers 
until June 30, 2010.  The vouchers were issued to Belarusians in 
1994-1997 to allow people to get their share of the national wealth, 
but Belarus never had a developed stock market and selling vouchers 
to anybody other than the state is illegal.  Only five million out 
of the eight million Belarusians who were eligible to receive 
vouchers got one and over half of all received vouchers were 
invested in facilities designated by the state.  Now that the 
deadline is extended, Belarusians are still able to receive a fair 
price for their vouchers if and when the country's privatization 
policy changes. 
 
¶12. Customs Double Payments to State Budget 
 
Belarus' Customs Committee Chair Alexander Shpilevskiy informed 
Lukashenko on July 9 that Customs payments to the state budget 
doubled in January-June to USD 2 billion.  Shpilevskiy lauded the 
increase, but noted that it was unclear how Belarus' new Customs 
code, which came into effect on July 1, would affect the payments. 
¶13. International Reserves Up 70 Percent 
 
According to the National Bank website, Belarus' international 
reserves increased 70 percent in January-June to USD 2.34 billion, 
largely due to Gazprom's USD 625 million payment for 12.5 percent of 
Belarus' natural gas transportation company Beltransgaz.  Other 
installment payments will follow in 2008-2010.  In 2006, Belarus' 
international reserves rose by 6.7 percent to USD 1.38 Billion. 
 
¶14. Consumer Prices Increase .43 Percent in June 
 
On July 11, Head of the Minsk Price Control Department Iosif 
Rachytsky announced that June consumer prices in Belarus increased 
0.43 percent.  Authorities routinely inspect and reprimand 
businesses, particularly monopolies, which allow price rises above 
0.5 percent monthly. 
 
MINSK 00000601  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
--------------------- 
¶15. Quote of the Week 
--------------------- 
 
On July 9, the State Secretary of the Belarusian-Russian Union State 
Pavel Borodin chided Ukrainian President Yushchenko for delivering a 
greetings message in Ukrainian to participants of the Slavyanski 
Bazar music concert in Vitebsk: 
 
"It should not be that the Ukrainians become so independent that 
they stop saying "hello."  Lukashenko spoke Russian and Putin's 
message is also in Russian, despite the fact that he could have used 
his German, French, or English." 
 
[Note: Borodin himself used the Belarusian word "nezalezhniy" - 
meaning independence - instead of using the Russian variant 
"nezavisimiy."  End note.] 
 
Stewart