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RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHVL #0807/01 2730536
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 290536Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY VILNIUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2876
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 VILNIUS 000807 
 
SIPDIS 
AMEMBASSY MINSK SENDS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO
SUBJECT: BELARUS WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - September 26, 2008 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy 
Minsk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
- Belarusian Christian Democrat Detained at Border (para. 2) 
- Opposition Activist Banned from Foreign Travel (para. 3) 
- Opposition Hopeful Assaulted (para. 4) 
- Malady Front Leader Survives Car Crash (para. 5) 
- Opposition Youth Sentenced to Jail (para. 6) 
- Independent Newspaper Called Extremist (para. 7) 
- Central Election Commission Disapproves Withdrawals (para. 8) 
 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
- National Bank Claims Belarus Unharmed by the World Financial 
Crisis (para. 9) 
- 26 Percent of Belarusians are Receiving Pensions (para. 10) 
- Belarus Ranks 151st in Transparency International Annual 
Corruption Rating (para. 11) 
 
Foreign Trade 
-------------- 
 
- Belarus' Trade with Russia on the Rise (and so is the Trade 
Deficit) (para. 12) 
- Seasonal Tariffs on Imported Vegetables Sky-Rocketed from 50 to 
180 Percent (para. 13) 
 
Quote of the Week (para. 14) 
----------------- 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶2.  Belarusian Christian Democrat Detained at Border 
 
Belarusian border guards briefly detained Belarusian Christian 
Democracy Party (BCDP) Co-Chair Aleksey Shein on September 19.  The 
guards searched Shein's personal belongings but did not confiscate 
anything.  Shein maintained that the GOB has continuously hindered 
the BCDP's contacts with foreign partners and its international 
activities. 
 
¶3.  Opposition Activist Banned from Foreign Travel 
 
On September 24, Belarusian border guards took Sergey Vysotskiy, 
leader of the unregistered Party of Freedom, off a Kyiv-bound train. 
 They detained him for two hours citing no official reasons or 
charges.  Vysotskiy stated that he would appeal his travel ban to 
court. 
 
¶4.  Opposition Hopeful Assaulted 
 
An unidentified person in street clothes attacked opposition 
parliamentary hopeful Andrey Levinov in Vitebsk on September 22.  As 
soon as Levinov stepped out of his apartment, he was brutally pushed 
from behind and pressed against the wall.  Levinov reportedly 
suffered a minor head injury.  He linked the assault with his 
political activities; nevertheless, he committed to continue running 
for the polls. 
 
¶5.  Malady Front Leader Survives Car Crash 
 
Malady Front Leader Artur Finkevich and his two colleagues survived 
a serious car crash on the way from Grodno to Minsk on September 20. 
 The vehicle overturned three times at the speed of 100 km per hour 
after a wheel came off.  Finkevich stressed the car had been 
properly maintained and checked shortly before the trip.  He linked 
the accident with elevated pressure from the GOB on opposition youth 
saying their work could "bother" certain GOB elements. 
 
¶6.  Opposition Youth Sentenced to Jail 
 
A Gomel district court sentenced on September 24 the opposition 
youth activist Andrey Tenyuta to seven days in jail and a fine of 
USD 330.  Police arrested Tenyuta on September 23 when he was about 
to board a Minsk-bound train and charged him with using obscenities 
and minor hooliganism.  The judge did not announce the time of the 
hearing, and neither Tenyuta's family nor human rights advocates 
were able to attend. 
 
¶7.  Independent Newspaper Called Extremist 
 
An Ivye district court ruled on September 19 that the unregistered 
independent newspaper "Freedom" contained materials of "extremist 
nature" and should be outlawed.  This precedent provides BKGB 
 
VILNIUS 00000807  002 OF 003 
 
 
officers legal grounds for confiscation of copies and prosecution of 
persons in possession of copies.  The Grodno office of the 
Belarusian KGB filed the case following numerous seizures of the 
newspaper issues from local opposition activists. 
 
¶8.  Central Election Commission Disapproves Withdrawals 
 
On September 24, Central Election Commission Chairwoman Lidiya 
Yermoshina expressed criticism regarding 10 parliamentary hopefuls 
who withdrew from the race.  Yermoshina said they "harmed" the 
electoral campaign and let their supporters down.  She announced 
that as of September 24, there were 265 candidates still running for 
the polls.  According to the United Democratic Forces (UDF) press 
center, 66 UDF candidates remain in the race. 
 
---------------- 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
¶9.  National Bank Claims Belarus Unharmed by the World Financial 
Crisis 
 
On September 22, Belarus' National Bank issued a press-release 
stating that the current turbulence in world financial markets poses 
no serious threat to the country's economy and banking sector. 
According to the announcement, the National Bank does not plan to 
react to the situation in any way, since the country's major 
economic and financial partners as well as Belarus' own economy and 
banking system are sufficiently stable and sound.  Belarus 
reportedly possesses a well-established system to monitor 
international financial markets that mitigates emerging domestic and 
external risks.  In contrast, independent observers believe that 
Belarus stayed relatively unharmed because the country's stocks are 
not traded internationally. 
 
¶10.  26 Percent of Belarusians are Receiving Pensions 
 
According to the information provided to Ecopress news agency by 
Belarus' Labor Ministry September 24, as of July 1, the number of 
retired Belarusians is about 26 percent of the population (2.5 
million out of 9.7 million).  According to the country's labor code, 
men and women retire at the age of 60 and 55 respectively.  The 
average life expectancy for men is 64.5 years and 76.2 years for 
women.  The government spends 11 percent of the country's GDP to pay 
minimal pensions to eligible Belarusian citizens. 
 
¶11.  Belarus Ranks 151 in Transparency International Annual 
Corruption Rating 
 
Ecopress news agency reported on September 23 that according to the 
latest Transparency International data, Belarus ranks 151st on the 
list of 180 countries rated for corruption.  Belarus' corruption 
index is 2.  Ukraine's and Russia's indices are 2.5 and 2.1 and 
these countries' ranks 134 and 147 respectively. 
 
------------- 
Foreign Trade 
------------- 
 
¶12.  Belarus' Trade with Russia on the Rise (and so is the Trade 
Deficit) 
 
An anonymous Economy Ministry official told the Ecopress news agency 
September 25 that Russia-Belarus trade through July grew on the year 
by 60 percent to USD 21.5 billion.  Belarus' exports increased by 
40.4 percent to USD 6.5 billion and imports rose 71 percent to USD 
15 billion.  Rapidly growing prices for oil, oil products and 
natural gas -- Russia's main exports to Belarus -- made the biggest 
contribution to the country's USD 1.7 billion plus deficit in 
foreign trade in goods and services that the GOB has routinely 
failed to curb this year. 
 
¶13.  Seasonal Tariffs on Imported Vegetables Sky-Rocketed 50 to 180 
Percent 
 
According to various news agencies, President Lukashenka issued 
decree 523 September 18 introducing or greatly increasing seasonal 
tariffs on imported cucumbers (50 percent), tomatoes (50 percent), 
onions (180 percent), cabbages (75 percent), carrots (120 percent) 
and beetroots (150 percent).  The edict came into effect September 
22 and was allegedly intended to "safeguard the interests of 
Belarusian producers", whose produce was often more expensive than 
imported items. 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶14.  Answering questions of "Financial Times" and "Frankfurter 
Allgemeine Zeitung" reporters September 18, President Lukashenka 
said: 
 
 
VILNIUS 00000807  003 OF 003 
 
 
"Yet, I do not have any plans to resign.  It is not because, as you 
probably think, I want to be in power for ever.  It is because my 
resignation in current situation could be viewed as treason.  Even 
more than that, I do not understand why I should resign now.  What 
happened to make me go now?" 
 
MOORE 
LEADER