VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVL #0444/01 1581334
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061334Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY VILNIUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2386
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS VILNIUS 000444 
 
AMEMBASSY MINSK SENDS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO
SUBJECT: BELARUS WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - June 6, 2008 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy 
Minsk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
- Gomel Opposition Activist Obliged to Pay Income Tax (para. 2) 
- Prominent Opposition Activist Jailed (para. 3) 
- Opposition Leader Denied Travel Ban Appeal (para. 4) 
- Soligorsk Malady Front Leader Dismissed From School (para. 5) 
- Political Prisoner Denied Jail Sentence Appeal (para. 6) 
 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
- Break-Down of Average Belarusian Family Expenditures (para. 7) 
- Belarus Looking For Contractor to Build Nuclear Plant (para. 8) 
 
International Trade 
------------------- 
 
- Belarusian Trade Deficit on the Rise (para. 9) 
- Poultry Market Still Closed to Foreign Producers (para. 10) 
 
Quote of the Week (para. 11) 
----------------- 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶2. Gomel Opposition Activist Obliged To Pay Income Tax 
 
On June 4, a Gomel district court obliged Belarusian Christian 
Democracy party member Konstantin Zhukovskiy to pay 2,115,000 rubles 
(USD 990) in income taxes.  The tax inspection sued Zhukovskiy for 
expenditures purportedly exceeding his total income in five years. 
The verdict followed a fine of 1,750,000 rubles (USD 820) imposed on 
Zhukovskiy for alleged receipt of foreign assistance from relatives 
in Ukraine. 
 
¶3. Prominent Opposition Activist Jailed 
 
Prominent opposition activist and historian Vyacheslav Sivchik was 
sentenced to ten days in jail on June 4.  He was charged  June 3 
with participation in an unsanctioned demonstration in Kurapaty, the 
site of Stalinist mass massacre on the outskirts of Minsk.  Civil 
society and opposition members held a ceremony to unveil a plaque 
and commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the discovery of the 
Kurapaty site.  The police prohibited activists from installing an 
information stand featuring a map of the site. 
 
¶4. Opposition Leader Denied A Travel Ban Appeal 
 
On June 2, a Minsk district court denied United Civic Party leader 
Anatoly Lebedko's appeal of the travel ban against him.  In placing 
Lebedko on the ban list, the Interior Ministry cited an ongoing 
criminal investigation against him.  The court dismissed the appeal, 
noting that it is the Ministry's responsibility to examine the 
complaint.  Lebedko maintained that he will appeal to the city and 
Supreme courts. 
 
¶5. Soligorsk Malady Front Leader Dismissed From School 
 
A Soligorsk High School administration expelled local Malady Front 
leader Ivan Shylo on June 4 on the eve of his final graduation exam. 
 City education authorities alleged that Shylo violated the school's 
regulations prohibiting participation in unsanctioned rallies.  The 
school's principal resigned in protest, and the vice-principal was 
fired following her refusal to voluntarily expel Shylo. 
 
¶6. Political Prisoner Denied Jail Sentence Appeal 
 
On May 30, a Minsk city court denied political prisoner Sergey 
Parsyukevich's appeal of his 2.5-year prison term.  His lawyer, Vera 
Stremkovskaya, called the verdict "disappointing" and maintained 
that Parsyukevich's case contained numerous legal violations. 
According to his wife, Parsyukevich was denied proper medical 
treatment in jail and will be transferred to a prison in Shklov, 
Mogilev Oblast, to serve his sentence. 
 
---------------- 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
¶7. Break-Down of Average Belarusian Family Expenditures 
 
The Statistics Ministry reported on June 3 that the average 
Belarusian family monthly expenditures in the first quarter were 960 
thousand Belarusian rubles (USD 450).  The Ministry randomly 
examined a number of households' spending patterns and discovered 
that average spending on food was 41.1 percent, consumer goods 33.3 
percent, services 23.3 percent, and utilities 8.9 percent.  The 
Ministry highlighted that alcohol expenditures comprised 2.3 percent 
of spending. 
 
¶8. Belarus Seeks Contractor to Build Nuclear Plant 
 
Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadiuk told parliament on June 4 
that the government had approached the world's leading contractors 
to solicit their interest in building Belarus' first nuclear power 
plant.  According to Mikhadiuk, the American-British-Japanese 
conglomerate Westinghouse-Toshiba and French-German AREVA are 
unlikely to join the project due to political reasons.  Mikhadiuk 
indicated that Russian Atomstroiexport appears the most likely 
partner to build the plant, and it plans to commission the first 
structure of the 2000 MWt plant to open in 2016 and the second one 
in 2018. 
 
------------------- 
International Trade 
------------------- 
 
¶9. Belarus' Trade Deficit on the Rise 
 
The Statistics Ministry reported June 3 that the country's commodity 
trade deficit through April was USD 1.3 billion as compared with USD 
1.15 billion a year ago.  Belarus' exports to the CIS, Russia and 
countries outside CIS grew by 56.6 percent, 44.8 percent and 73.1 
percent, respectively.  Its imports increased from the CIS by 72 
percent, Russia 74.7 percent, and countries outside the CIS 31.9 
percent.  The country's largest deficit was in trade with Russia, 
which totaled USD 4.2 billion. 
 
¶10. Poultry Market Still Closed to Foreign Producers 
 
According to Prime-Tass news service, Presidential Edict 305 signed 
on June 5 extends for another nine months a 45 percent import tariff 
on poultry meat. The edict is aimed at protecting domestic markets 
for local producers.  Currently, they have 87 percent of the market. 
 
 
---------------------- 
Quote of the Week 
---------------------- 
 
¶11. Chairperson of the Central Election Committee, Lidiya 
Yermoshina, on June 5 commenting on the assumption that the 
authorities will secure a few seats for opposition politicians in 
the new parliament: 
 
"I am not a part of the authorities and I know nothing about [such a 
plan].  Moreover, I do not know who will run for office or what 
'secure' means.  To support and help [candidates] - those are rights 
enjoyed by the authorities, the opposition and any other political 
force.  I believe local authorities will support those politicians 
whose convictions they share." 
 
Savage 
Leader