VZCZCXRO4865
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSK #0247/01 3471446
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121446Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0009
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHSK/AMEMBASSY MINSK 0009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000247 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO
SUBJECT: BELARUS WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT -  DECEMBER 05, 2008 
 
MINSK 00000247  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy 
Minsk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
- Entrepreneurs' Leader Charged with Petty Theft (para. 2) 
- Mogilyov Oblast Residents Protest Nuclear Plans (para. 3) 
- Opposition Youth Sentenced to One Year of "Khimiya" (para. 4) 
- Opposition Youth Dispersed, Briefly Detained (para. 5) 
- Police Detain Democratic Activists on International Human 
Rights Day (para. 6) 
- Activists Banned from Travel Appeal to Lukashenka (para. 7) 
- Arts Professor Dismissed for Cooperation with Free Theater 
(para. 8) 
 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
- Gold and Hard Currency Reserves Decreased Through November by 
9.7 Percent (para. 9) 
- Official Unemployment Rate Falling (para. 10) 
 
Foreign Trade 
------------- 
 
- GOB Seeks to Preserve Traditional Markets by Allowing 
Loss-Making Sales (para. 11) 
- GOB Hopes the U.S. Will Unblock Multilateral Talks on Belarus' 
WTO Accession (para. 12) 
- Latest Statistics on Foreign Trade (para. 13) 
 
Quote of the Week (para. 14) 
---------------------------- 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶2. Entrepreneurs Leader Charged with Petty Theft 
 
On December 5, Anatoliy Shumchenko, leader of the small business 
association Perspektiva, received a subpoena summoning him to a 
trial on December 17.  Shumchenko has been charged with petty 
theft for allegedly stealing a bottle of vinegar from a grocery 
store in Minsk on November 17.  The activist dismissed the 
charges as "fabricated" and linked his trial to the upcoming 
entrepreneurs' demonstrations scheduled for December 15 and 
authorities' efforts to intimidate him. 
 
¶3. Mogilyov Oblast Residents Protest Nuclear Plans 
 
Independent media reported on December 8 that a group of local 
residents has collected over 4,000 signatures protesting the 
possible construction of a nuclear power plant at a site near 
the town of Gorki in the Mogilyov Oblast.  The petition urges 
the GOB to drop nuclear energy development plans, calls for the 
expanded use of "safe" alternative energy technologies and 
highlights the Chernobyl disaster and the massive devastation it 
caused for the region. 
 
¶4. Opposition Youth Sentenced to One Year of "Khimiya" 
 
A Minsk district court sentenced December 9 Alyaksandr Barazenka 
to one year of "restricted freedom" or "khimiya," to be served 
at home.  The opposition youth was charged with actively 
participating in a mass entrepreneurs' demonstration on January 
10, 2008, that had severely violated public order.  Barazenka 
announced that he will appeal the verdict.  He also expressed 
gratitude to supporters who have staged numerous protests across 
Belarus and outside the courthouse.  Former political prisoner 
Andrey Kim was beaten, receiving minor facial injuries, during a 
demonstration on December 8. 
 
¶5. Opposition Youth Dispersed, Briefly Detained 
 
On December 6, riot police violently dispersed a group of 
opposition youth demonstrating in support of Alyaksandr 
Barazenka in central Minsk.  Five activists were briefly 
detained, and all but Ekaterina Solovyova were released without 
charges.  Solovyova was accused of allegedly beating a police 
officer and may face criminal charges after an investigation. 
The activist asserted that she only defended herself during a 
violent arrest. 
 
¶6. Police Detain Democratic Activists on International Human 
Rights Day 
 
Approximately 30 human rights and opposition activists were 
briefly detained across Belarus on December 10.  Riot forces 
violently dispersed a protest and detained six human rights 
 
MINSK 00000247  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
advocates and 12 Maladaya Belarus and Belarusian Popular Front 
youth group members in downtown Minsk as they handed out copies 
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and demonstrated to 
mark Human Rights Day.  Police also apprehended four Malady 
Front members in Brest and Kobryn for posting white-red-white 
flags.  Brief detentions of human rights lawyers were also 
reported in Mogilyov and Grodno.  All were released without 
charge. 
 
¶7. Travel Banned Opposition Appeals to Lukashenka 
 
Five opposition activists, including United Civic Party Chair 
Anatoliy Lebedko and Malady Front leader Zmitser Dashkevich, who 
are banned from traveling abroad for politically-motivated 
reasons, delivered an appeal to the Presidential Administration 
on December 10.  According to Lebedko, the activists were told 
to prepare a separate statement addressed personally to 
President Lukashenka. 
 
¶8. Arts Professor Dismissed over Cooperation with Free Theater 
 
Human rights portals reported on December 11 that prominent 
Belarusian Arts Academy professor Andrey Kolyada was dismissed 
for his purported connections with the underground Free Theater. 
 Kolyada, an expert on theater arts and a Belarusian translator, 
allegedly cooperated with the Theater and translated a 
collection of young Belarusian playwrights' works entitled 
Generation Jeans into the Belarusian language. 
 
---------------- 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
¶9. Gold and Hard Currency Reserves Decreased Through November by 
9.7 Percent 
 
According to official statistics released December 5, Belarus' 
gold and hard currency reserves decreased through November by 
9.7 percent to a total of USD 3.7 billion.  In August through 
November 2008, the reserves dropped by 8.4 percent. In 2007, 
Belarus' gold and hard currency reserves tripled to USD 4.2 
billion. 
 
¶10. Official Unemployment Rate Falling 
 
According to the data publicized by the National Statistics 
Committee on December 5, unemployment in Belarus decreased 
through October by 12.7 percent to 38,500 people. As of November 
1, the unemployment rate was 0.8 percent.  The official report 
admits that 2 percent of employed persons had to work shorter 
working days and weeks in the first three quarters of the year. 
The monthly allowance paid to an unemployed person in October 
was less than USD 20, while the average salary in the country 
was equal to about USD 450.  The majority of unemployed persons 
are women - 62 percent, and people under the age of 30 - 43 
percent. 
 
------------- 
Foreign Trade 
------------- 
 
¶11. GOB Seeks to Preserve Traditional Markets by Allowing 
Loss-Making Sales 
 
On December 1, the government issued a resolution to allow 
Belarusian enterprises to sell their products in foreign markets 
below cost if and when necessary to preserve their market share. 
 The government will grant permission on a case by case basis 
and will require a thorough justification by enterprises wishing 
to take such measures.  Prime Minister Sidorsky told the GOB on 
December 9 that the major task in a time of crisis is to keep 
the country's industrial and agricultural producers robust.  He 
said that with prices of energy and raw materials plummeting, it 
was imperative that they must reduce costs and remain 
profitable. 
 
¶12. GOB Hopes USG Will Unblock Multilateral Talks on WTO 
Accession 
 
Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Yevdochenko told the Lower House 
of Parliament's Commission on International Affairs on December 
10 that the GOB hopes the U.S. will unlock multilateral 
negotiations on Belarus' WTO accession.  He said that with a new 
administration in Washington D.C. along with ongoing improvement 
of U.S.-Belarus relations, he hopes that negotiations will 
resume early next year after a three-year hold. 
 
¶13. Latest Statistics on Foreign Trade 
 
On December 11, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Yevdochenko 
briefed Economic and Commercial officers of foreign embassies in 
Minsk on the country's foreign trade situation.  The volume of 
foreign trade increased through October by 51.6 percent to USD 
 
MINSK 00000247  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
63.6 billion.  Exports grew 52 percent to USD 29.4 billion, 
while imports grew 51.3 percent to USD 34.2 billion.  Belarus' 
major trade partners are Russia, USD 34.3 billion (47.3 percent 
growth) and the EU, USD 20.5 billion (50 percent growth).  In 
July through October, Belarus' total exports have reduced each 
month by USD 130 million (4-5 percent) on average.  Exports to 
Russia and Ukraine were hit most, while exports to the EU and 
the CIS steadily rose. 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶14. On December 11, Lukashenka received the outgoing Italian 
Ambassador .  He thanked the Ambassador for his contribution to 
the improvement of EU-Belarus relations and said: 
 
"We play no games [with the EU].  This is not in our interest. 
We are open in our relations with the EU, and we truly want to 
completely normalize our relations, if the EU wants that . . . 
We make no conditions, though we have quite a few issues in our 
relations not only with the EU but with some other countries 
also." 
SAVAGE