VZCZCXRO5117
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSK #0184/01 0741216
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141216Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7021
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1873
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000184 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - March 14, 2008 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy 
Minsk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
- Grodno Activists Campaign for "European Belarus" (para. 2) 
- Protestant Pastor Fined (para. 3) 
- Former Prisoner to Monitor Judicial Abuses (para. 4) 
- Independent Journalists Detained in Brest (para. 5) 
- Former Political Prisoner Goes on Hunger Strike (para. 6) 
- Small Business Activist Detained on Criminal Charges (para. 7) 
 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
- GOB Official Expresses Concern Over Sanctions (para. 8) 
- GDP Reportedly on the Rise (para. 9) 
- Industry Paid USD 606 Million for Energy in 2007 (para. 10) 
- Belarus to Launch Rural Development Plan (para. 11) 
 
International Trade 
------------------- 
 
- Russia: Belarus Failed to Meet Trade Commitments (para. 12) 
 
Quote of the Week (para. 13) 
----------------- 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶2.  Grodno Activists Campaign for "European Belarus" 
 
Grodno-based democratic activists launched an organizing committee 
March 7 for a campaign to encourage closer ties with Europe. 
Campaign leader Nikolay Statkevich stated that the goal of the 
campaign is to show that democratic forces "want Belarus to become a 
European country" and want "to improve living standards" for 
Belarusians.  The campaign has already begun in Mogilyov and 
Vitebsk, and activists also plan to continue the campaign in Minsk, 
Brest and Gomel to start collecting signatures calling for Belarus' 
integration into the European Union. 
 
¶3.  Protestant Pastor Fined 
 
A Minsk district court fined New Life Church (NLC) pastor Vyacheslav 
Goncharenko BYR 350,000 (USD 165) March 10.  The judge charged 
Goncharenko with obstruction of official duties by refusing to allow 
fire inspectors access to the NLC building.  Goncharenko made the 
move amid warnings and threats of further sanctions against the NLC, 
and is determined to continue to refuse officials access until the 
Supreme Court settles a case the NLC brought in relation to the 
forced sale of NLC property. 
 
¶4.  Former Prisoner to Monitor Judicial Abuses 
 
Former political prisoner and Volkovysk-based entrepreneur Nikolay 
Avtukhovich announced plans March 10 to establish an international 
commission for assessment of unlawful and overly-stringent court 
sentences.  Legal experts will review verdicts considered by 
convicts or their family members to be unfair, abusive, or 
politically motivated.  According to Avtukhovich, the reviews will 
better enable the European Court for Human Rights to challenge the 
groundless and unlawful imprisonment of many convicts. 
 
¶5.  Independent Journalists Detained in Brest 
 
Police in Brest briefly detained and questioned a group of 
independent journalists March 10.  The journalists were working on a 
film about the local Muslim community.  The officers alleged they 
received a phone call from Brest residents concerned with an 
"unauthorized filming of Chechens," detained the journalists for 
five hours, and released them without charges after a conversation 
with local ideology officers. 
 
¶6.  Former Political Prisoner Goes on Hunger Strike 
 
Former political prisoner Sergey Skrebets and his brother Aleksandr 
went on a hunger strike March 10 demanding the GOB release political 
prisoners Aleksandr Kozulin, opposition youth activist Andrey Kim, 
and small business leader Sergey Parsyukevich.  The two do not 
intend to send any petitions to either the Presidential 
Administration or international organizations. 
 
¶7.  Small Business Activist Detained on Criminal Charges 
 
 
MINSK 00000184  002 OF 003 
 
 
Vitebsk-based "For Freedom" movement activists launched a 
fundraising campaign March 9 to support the family of small business 
activist Sergey Parsyukevich who has been in custody since March 4. 
Parsyukevich served a 15-day sentence in January on charges of 
participating in an unsanctioned entrepreneurs' demonstration in 
central Minsk and was severely beaten in jail.  He filed a complaint 
with the prosecutor's office; in response the police opened a 
criminal case alleging Parsyukevich assaulted a warden.  The 
activist insisted he was arrested "to intimidate entrepreneurs." 
 
---------------- 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
¶8.  GOB Official Expresses Concern Over Sanctions 
 
Chairman of the National Academy of Sciences Mikhail Myasnikovich 
stated March 12 at a round table on import substitution that "in 
many respects, U.S. sanctions are merely a show of strength, but 
uncertainty [caused by the sanctions] may affect our economic 
situation."  He also pointed out that Belarus will need to be more 
careful when seeking foreign loans.  "We are actively working with 
Russian banks today.  But if a Russian bank has even a single 
American-held share, the U.S. then can force the bank not to 
transact business with us," Myasnikovich said.  He underlined that 
funds borrowed by enterprises in Belarus grew 46.3% in 2007.  "But 
we must understand that the state sector prevails here, and if these 
enterprises appear to be insolvent for some reason, foreign lenders 
will appeal to the state [for repayment], and it will not benefit 
our economy," he noted.  According to Myasnikovich, Belarus received 
about USD 3 billion in foreign capital in 2007 in the form of 
short-term loans for capital assets and foreign purchases. 
 
 
¶9.  GDP Reportedly on the Rise 
 
Minister of Statistics Vladimir Zinovskiy reported March 11 that 
Belarus' GDP rose by 9.9 percent year-on-year in the first two 
months of 2008.  Annual GDP growth was 8.1 percent in 2007. 
Industrial output increased by 12.9 percent in January and February 
2008 with agricultural output rising 6 percent.  Zinovskiy added 
that Aleksandr Lukashenko highlighted the importance of accurate 
statistical data to ensure relevant GOB policies.  He also noted the 
Ministry is actively preparing for a census scheduled for October 
¶2009. 
 
¶10.  Industry Paid USD 606 Million for Energy in 2007 
 
The Ministry of Industry announced March 7 that Belarusian industry 
paid USD 606 million for energy resources in 2007, a 38.8 percent 
increase over 2006.  According to the Ministry, Belarusian companies 
on aggregate had been able to decrease their energy costs from 10.2 
of overall expenses to 6.9 percent over the past five years.  Gas 
price hikes halted the decrease, and the figure for 2007 stood at 
7.7 percent. 
 
¶11.  Belarus to Launch Rural Development Plan 
 
Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Bambiza announced March 11 that Belarus 
plans to invest USD 590 million in 5,481 rural social and 
infrastructure facilities.  However, Prime Minister Sergey 
Sidorskiy, who was also present at the announcement, stated that 620 
facilities from the government's 2005-2007 rural investment plan 
were never completed, and the completion of those projects will 
require an additional USD 72 million.  Sidorskiy blamed delays by 
developers for the shortfall. 
 
------------------- 
International Trade 
------------------- 
 
¶12.  Russia: Belarus Failed to Meet Trade Commitments 
 
Russia plans to accuse Belarus of non-fulfillment of commitments 
under a 2007 trade agreement during the March meeting of the Union 
State Council of Ministers, according to the Belarusian press. 
Russia announced its discontent during a March 5 meeting of the 
Commission for Tariff and Non-tariff Regulations of the Council of 
Ministers of the Union State in Minsk.  The complaint is based on 
Belarus' failure to open its market to Russian tobacco products. 
The Belarusian state procurement system restricts supplies from 
Russian makers and encourages domestic producers. 
 
---------------------- 
¶13.  Quote of the Week 
---------------------- 
 
The Venezuelan Embassy, in a decidedly undiplomatic press release 
contesting former Polish Ambassador Mariusz Mashkevich's assertion 
that recent Belarus/Venezuela business agreements are a vehicle for 
 
MINSK 00000184  003 OF 003 
 
 
money laundering: 
 
"His allegations are a rough and irresponsible lie.  The embassy 
urgently advises Mr. Ambassador to carefully rinse his mouth before 
speaking about the worthy presidents Hugo Chavez and Aleksandr 
Lukashenko." 
 
Moore