VZCZCXRO3242
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSK #0711/01 2291336
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171336Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6380
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 000711 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - August 17, 2007 
 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy 
Minsk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
- Demographic Trends (para. 2) 
- Entrepreneurs Resolve to Strike and Defend Rights (para. 3) 
- Independent Editor Faces Criminal Charges (para. 4) 
- Polish Officials Denied Entry To Belarus (para. 5) 
- GOB Denies Registration to Left-Wing Coalition (para. 6) 
- Customs Officers Detain Activist, Seize Publications (para. 7) 
- Organizers Fined for Collection Box at Free Concert (para. 8) 
- Activist Resorts to Begging to Pay Damages (para. 9) 
- Union Refuses to Disclose Information (para. 10) 
- Minsk Court Rejects Historian's Lawsuit (para. 11) 
 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
- Lukashenko: Natural Gas Price Hikes Won't Hurt (para. 12) 
- No More Russian Ruble Peg (para. 13) 
 
International Trade 
------------------- 
 
- Belarus Bans Meat Imports in Private Luggage (para. 14) 
- Financing Deal for John Deere Shipments (para. 15) 
 
- Quote of the Week (para. 16) 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶2.  Demographic Trends 
 
The Ministry of Labor and Social Security announced on August 10 its 
newest demographic statistics.  The good news:  according to the 
ministry, the country's birth rate rose by 8.8 percent during the 
first half of 2007, while the death rate dropped by 4.2 percent. 
The bad news: the number of divorces increased by 15.4 percent and 
the number of marriages is up only 5.1 percent.  Officials stated 
that, as a result, Belarus faces a problem of "instability of family 
relations and social orphanhood."  Ministries are set to implement 
programs to encourage responsible parenting, prepare youth for 
family life, and talk about positive family experiences. Other 
facts: the mortality rate in rural areas is more than twice as high 
as in the cities.  Cardiovascular disease, fatal incidents, and 
cancer are the leading causes of death. 
 
¶3.  Entrepreneurs Resolve to Strike and Defend Rights 
 
Small business NGO "Initiative" leader Viktor Gorbachev announced 
that market vendors plan a national one-day strike set for September 
¶1.  The vendors made the decision based on the local authorities' 
unsupportive reaction to their protest against recent arbitrary 
inspections, seizures, and fines at markets.  Gorbachev estimated 
50,000 vendors could potentially join the strike across Belarus.  He 
also said the activists will hold a conference on August 27 to adopt 
a statement against increased pressure from the GOB, and to discuss 
steps to counter illegal raids. 
 
¶4.  Independent Editor Faces Criminal Charges 
 
Prosecutor's office in Kletsk, Minsk Oblast resumed a criminal case 
against Sergey Ponomorev, publisher and editor of a local 
independent bulletin.  A case against Ponomorev charging him with 
slander against law enforcement officers was closed in June 2007 
after linguistic experts found no mention of slander in the 
publication's articles.  Renewed criminal charges came after 
Ponomorev filed an application with the local authorities to obtain 
permission to stage a picket in support of political prisoner 
Aleksandr Kozulin. 
 
¶5.  Polish Officials Denied Entry to Belarus 
 
Belarusian border officials denied entry to the Vice Speaker of the 
Polish Senate, the Deputy Head of the Senate Chancellery, and two 
members of the Polish legislature.  The group was traveling to 
Belarus on August 15 to attend Polish Army Day celebrations, 
organized by the independent Union of Belarusian Poles in Grodno. 
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry stated that the Polish officials are 
on the travel ban list because they are traveling with the purposes 
of "political propaganda, inciting discord in the Polish community, 
and engaging in unconstructive dialogue." 
 
¶6.  GOB Denies Registration to Left-Wing Coalition 
 
MINSK 00000711  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
On August 9, Belarus' Ministry of Justice denied for the second time 
the registration of the Union of Left Parties, an alliance of three 
left-wing opposition parties. The ministry cited mistakes made in 
the registration application.  The alliance plans to appeal the 
decision.  The Union's first application was rejected on the pretext 
that its founding conference was held in Ukraine, in contradiction 
with a Belarusian law forbidding political parties to hold events 
abroad.  The alliance submitted its second application after holding 
another founding conference within Belarus. 
 
¶7.  Customs Officers Detain Activist, Seize Publications 
 
On August 14, Belarusian customs officers held Dzyanis Sadowski, an 
opposition activist, at the Polish border for two hours. The 
officers confiscated CDs, books and leaflets from among his 
belongings.  They eventually released him to continue his trip to a 
workshop in Poland.  The confiscated material included files on 
Stalin's purges, literature by Vasil Bykaw and leaflets opposing the 
Belarusian religion law. 
 
¶8.  Organizers Fined for Collection Box at Free Concert 
 
On August 10, the Gomel Regional Economic Court fined the organizers 
of a pro-opposition concert nearly USD 150 after finding them guilty 
of the illegal business activity of collecting money at a supposedly 
free concert.  The group asserted that the case was politically 
motivated and that the code used to impose the fine did not apply to 
their case, as they did not earn any income from the concert. 
 
¶9.  Activist Resorts to Begging to Pay Damages 
 
On August 13, police in Vitebsk detained 65-year-old human rights 
activist Valery Shchukin as he begged passers-by for money to help 
him pay for court-ordered damages.  Shchukin was judged guilty of 
insulting an elections official for suggesting that she had rigged 
recent local elections, and ordered to pay USD 100 in damages. 
Authorities released Shchukin, allowing him to continue begging on 
the condition that he stopped distributing leaflets regarding the 
case. 
 
¶10.  Union Refuses to Discose Information 
 
On August 14, the Free Union ofMetal Workers refused a government 
order that deanded a list of the union's members and "detailedinformation" regarding the union's activities.  Th union's leader 
stated that such a disclosure ofinformation could lead to 
government pressure onthe union's individual members.  The ministry 
lat acquired the union's membership rolls in 2006, an proceeded to 
harass members.  The group assertsthat this latest demand is part 
of a government rackdown on the union. 
 
¶11.  Minsk Court RejectsHistorian's Lawsuit 
 
On August 13, the Minsk Cit Court upheld a refusal to hear a 
lawsuit broughtby historian Irina Kashtalyan.  Kashtalyan, a 
fonding member of an association of independent histrians, filed 
the suit against the Supreme Certifcation Commission for rejecting 
her doctoral disertation.  The commission stated that her 
dissertation, which deals with Belarus in the aftermath ofWorld War 
II, tries to persuade its reader that he Soviet Union "was not a 
natural mother but anevil, heartless stepmother for the Belarusian 
peple."  The suit also charges the commission with violating 
regulations governing the granting of scintific degrees.  The Minsk 
district judge declind to hear the suit on the grounds that her 
jurisiction does not cover scientific disputes. 
 
--------------- 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
¶12.  Lukashenko: Natural Gas Price Hikes Won't Hurt 
 
President Lukashenko stated that higher natural gas prices will not 
affect living standards of the people of Belarus or the value of the 
ruble.  He also pointed out that the country successfully managed to 
settle much its gas debt without the help of the USD 1.5 billion 
loan that Russia had promised.  He further announced that that 
Belarus' currency reserves have increased in the past year, ensuring 
stability of the Belarusian ruble and the overall economy. 
 
¶13.  No More Russian Ruble Peg 
 
Belarus plans to give up pegging its currency to the Russian ruble. 
Belarus has pegged its currency to both U.S. dollar and Russian 
ruble since early 2006.  According to a National Bank official, the 
system caused problems with calculating Belarusian ruble exchange 
rates with other currencies.  The president must still approve of 
the implementation schedule. 
 
 
MINSK 00000711  003 OF 003 
 
 
------------------- 
International Trade 
------------------- 
 
¶14.  Belarus Bans Meat Imports In Private Luggage 
 
Belarus' State Customs Committee announced an indefinite ban on meat 
imports in private luggage starting August 11.  The Agriculture 
Ministry supposedly initiated the ban because of the worldwide 
increase of foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, and avian 
flu. However, an anonymous official at one of the country's largest 
meat processors told Radio Liberty the true purpose was to cut down 
competition from Belarusian nationals residing in border areas who 
profit from unofficial meat import operations. 
 
¶15.  Financing Deal For John Deere Shipments 
 
On August 9, Belarus' second largest bank, Belagroprombank, signed a 
credit agreement with the U.S. "Deere Credit, Inc."  The deal 
represents the first time a Belarusian bank has signed an agreement 
with a foreign non-banking financial organization. The agreement 
provides for financing shipments of John Deere equipment to 
Belagroprombank clients. 
 
--------------------- 
¶16. Quote of the Week 
--------------------- 
 
Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Naumov proposed how to reduce 
drinking in Belarus, at least when the weather is good: 
 
"In 1985 we sharply reduced the amount of alcohol for sale, but no 
alternative was created.  In Belarus today a lot is being done so 
that there will be an alternative.  Just this morning, we talked 
about putting a bike path around the ring road so any one who could 
want could bike 10 or 20 miles." 
 
Stewart