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INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0053
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHSK/AMEMBASSY MINSK 0709

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MINSK 000059 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/UMB (ASHEMA), DRL (DNADEL), AND EUR/ACE (KSALINGER) 
EMBASSY KYIV FOR USAID (JRIORDAN AND KMONAGHAN) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG ETRD BO
SUBJECT: BELARUS BI-WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - FEBRUARY 26, 2009 
 
MINSK 00000059  001.3 OF 004 
 
 
¶1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy 
Minsk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Civil Society 
------------- 
- GOB Crackdown on Polish Minority Sparks Flash Point with EU 
- The Aggressive Suppression of Peaceful Demonstrations Returns 
- New Election Law But GOB Control of Election Commission Endures 
- State Media is Encouraged to Criticize Opposition Candidates 
 
Economy 
------- 
- Belarus Accepts New Russian Oil Tariff, But Only for Six Months 
- Gazprom Now Has 50% of Beltransgaz, But May Want Majority 
- IMF Most Likely To Issue Final SBA Tranche in late March 
- Belarus Suspends Unilateral WTO Accession Talks 
 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶2. GOB Crackdown on the Polish Minority Sparks Flash Point with 
EU 
 
During his meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw 
Sikorski in Kyiv on February 25, President Lukashenka termed the 
conflict between Polish minority groups in Belarus a 
"misunderstanding" that would be resolved.  He stated that there 
were no bilateral problems stemming from differences between the 
Union of Poles of Belarus (UPB) recognized by the GOB and the 
Warsaw-backed UPB.  Sikorski said that Lukashenka had agreed to 
set up an expert group to study the issue of Belarus' Polish 
minority.  The meeting came as a European Parliament (EP) 
delegation arrived in Minsk on February 25 for a three-day 
fact-finding mission.  The delegation will meet with GOB 
officials, representatives of civil society, and opposition 
forces.  The mission is expected to issue a report based on its 
findings that will be incorporated into an EP resolution on the 
human rights situation in Belarus.  The report will also include 
recommendations on membership of a Belarus' delegation to the 
EU-Neighborhood East Parliamentary Assembly Euronest to be 
comprised of ten participants with observer status, likely 
representing MPs and civil society and opposition parties, a 
position the GOB opposes.  Anzhelika Borys, Leader of the 
Warsaw-backed UPB, was in Brussels and Warsaw recently for a 
series of meetings with EP members and the Polish President who 
expressed solidarity with the Polish minority in Belarus.  Borys 
explained that the GOB has sought "to present it as an internal 
conflict in order to distract peoples' attention, so that the 
issue is not seen in the context of human rights."  The 
Spokesperson for Catherine Ashton, the EU's High Representative 
on foreign policy, expressed EU FMs' concerns about the human 
rights situation in Belarus and announced that the EU will 
"remain vigilant and continue to raise the issue."  In addition, 
Ashton condemned police action against the Warsaw-backed union 
and what she called "attempts by authorities to impose a new 
leadership on the Polish community."  Critical statements and 
yet another round of confrontation between the official and 
unrecognized unions stemmed from the February 17 GOB ruling that 
ordered Borys' union to vacate the Polish House in Ivyanets.  In 
addition, Borys was sentenced February 15 to a $365 fine for 
participating in an unsanctioned demonstration in Hrodna on 
February 10 in support of Teresa Sobal, the ousted manager of 
the Ivyanets Polish House.  Borys' three senior associates 
received five-day jail sentences for similar charges on February 
¶15.  A senior Polish MFA official was quoted on February 19 as 
saying that all the 16 Polish Houses in Belarus should be under 
control of the Borys' union.  Only two of the Polish Houses, 
which serve as social and cultural centers, still remain outside 
control of the GOB-controlled union. 
 
¶3. The Aggressive Suppression of Peaceful Demonstrations Returns 
 
 
After permitting the monthly Solidarity Day demonstrations to 
take place this fall (reftel Minsk 024), authorities cracked 
down aggressively, manhandling and arresting demonstrators, as 
 
MINSK 00000059  002.3 OF 004 
 
 
activists attempted to stage three public protests in February. 
Belarus security forces arrested 29 democratic activists 
demonstrating in downtown Minsk on February 16 in remembrance of 
opposition leaders who disappeared in 1999-2000.  Police for the 
first time grabbed people as they approached the venue dragged 
them off to waiting vans, while others were arrested in the 
square a few minutes later.  Only two of the several dozen 
policemen on site were in uniform.  Officers in plainclothes 
used force against journalists, blocking photo and video 
cameras, and pushing them away from the demonstrators.  In a 
separate incident on February 14, police broke up a St. 
Valentine's Day march staged by the Malady Front and arrested 22 
activists, including four legal minors.  Young Belarus and 
European Belarus civil groups held three rallies at different 
venues on February 8 in support of the two Vaukavysk activists, 
Mikalay Autukhovich and Uladzimir Asipenka, who have been held 
in pretrial detention on terrorism charges since February 8, 
¶2009.  Approximately 20 activists from those groups were 
detained.  On all three days, people detained were eventually 
released without charges but many reported being fingerprinted 
and recorded on video and complained of suffering bruises and 
scratches while in police detention, as well being threatened 
verbally. 
 
¶4. New Election Law But GOB Control of Election Commission 
Endures 
 
At a press conference on February 1, Central Election Commission 
(CEC) Chairwoman Lidziya Yarmoshyna said that for the April 25 
local elections 1,495 territorial election commissions covering 
regional, town, and village councils have been established in 
Belarus, with a total membership of 11,697.  Of those, 51.9 
percent were nominated through the collection of voter 
signatures, 35.3 percent were nominated by NGOs and political 
parties, and 12.8 percent by "workers' collectives."  The 
requirement that one-third of commissions' membership be 
nominated by NGOs and political parties is a new requirement in 
the electoral law.  However, as it has turned out only 105 
persons or 0.9 percent of the total territorial commission 
members are affiliated with political parties; and of these only 
15 represent opposition parties, including nine with the 
Spravedlivy Mir Belarusian Party of the Left, four with the 
United Civic Party, and two with the Belarusian Social 
Democratic Party Hramada.  There are 4,024 NGO members on the 
territorial commission, but the vast majority are associated 
with the state-controlled NGOs or associations such as Belaya 
Rus, National Youth Union, Women's Union, Veterans' Union, 
Federation of Trade Unions and others.  Independent observers 
concluded that the overwhelming majority of territorial 
commission members had served on commissions during previous 
elections campaigns in Belarus and described them as 
"ideologically" loyal to the regime.  At the district level, 
there are 367 elections commissions (covering Oblast/Regional 
councils and the Minsk city council).  The district commissions 
have a total of 4,542 members, of whom 43 percent were nominated 
by NGOs, mostly GOB-controlled, 18.2 percent by "workers' 
collectives," 6.7 percent by political parties; 32.1 percent 
sought membership through the collection of signatures.  Of the 
political party representatives, only 72 come from opposition 
parties.  The deadline for establishment of precinct-level 
electoral commissions is March 7. 
 
¶5. State Media is Encouraged to Criticize Opposition Candidates 
 
On February 16, CEC Chairwoman Yarmoshyna stated at a workshop 
on the role of the media in the election process that state 
media have the right to criticize "opposition candidates" during 
the election campaign.  The First Deputy Head of the 
Presidential Administration Natallya Pyatkevich echoed her 
remarks, saying that any journalist has the right to hold an 
opinion and "report" it.  It is up to the journalist to do this 
"correctly," she said, arguing that the interest of freedom of 
information should be counterbalanced by responsibility on the 
part of reporters. 
 
------- 
Economy 
------- 
 
¶6. Belarus Accepts New Russian Oil Tariff, But Only for Six 
Months 
 
 
MINSK 00000059  003.3 OF 004 
 
 
Lukashenka issued an edict on February 12 approving the January 
27 bilateral agreement on oil imports from Russia.  Russian 
President Medvedev signed the amendments into law on February 
¶15.  According to the new agreement, Belarus will receive 6.3 
million tons of Russian oil duty-free in 2010 for internal use; 
but additional supplies for refinement and export to any market 
other than Russia will be subject to a 100% export duty. 
Russian duty-free quota for Belarus may be reduced if Belarus 
imposes additional transit duties on Russian oil passing through 
Belarus to Europe.  Domestic consumption of crude oil for each 
year will be adjusted by October 1.  While Lukashenka made no 
public comments after signing the amendments, some senior GOB 
officials have repeatedly argued that the export duty applied to 
Russian oil supplies to Belarus violates Russia's commitments 
under principles of the Custom Union of Belarus, Russian and 
Kazakhstan.  Belarus' Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Yevdochenko 
announced on February 16 that Belarus will insist that the 
export duty be abolished starting July 1, 2010, when the single 
Customs Union is scheduled to become operational.  In the 
meantime, the GOB is looking for ways maintain the profitability 
of the country's two oil refineries, which are facing serious 
difficulty in adjusting to terms of the new oil supply agreement 
with Russia.  IMF has calculated that GOB will lose no less than 
$2 billion dollars in revenues since it is no longer able to 
pocket the difference between the subsidized oil it use to 
receive from Russia, and the refined petroleum products it sold 
mainly to Europe at market rates. 
 
¶7. Gazprom Now Has 50% of Beltransgaz, But May Want Majority 
 
According to media reports, Russia's Gazprom transferred $625 
million on February 24 for 12.5% stock in the Beltransgaz 
natural gas transportation company, thus increasing its stake in 
Beltransgaz to 50%. This was the final tranche under $2.5 
billion agreement signed on May 18, 2007.  On February 25, the 
Russian Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Surikov told the press 
that Gazprom is interested in acquiring a controlling stake in 
OAO Beltransgaz. "If Gazprom paid for 50% in Beltransgaz, it 
definitely wants to have more. What other reason is there to buy 
a 50% stake?" he explained.  On a separate issue, according to 
the First Deputy Director of Beltransgaz Sorokhan, Belarus did 
pay for Russian gas delivered in January 2010 under the terms 
outlined in the five-year gas supply contract signed with 
Gazprom in 2006, that will remove Russian subsidies on gas in 
full by 2011.  The average import price Belarus paid in 2009 was 
$148 per 1,000 cubic meters.  In the first quarter of 2010, 
Belarus will pay $168, and given the current trends in world 
prices, expects the price to go up $4 in the 2nd quarter "unless 
we have contract adjustments," the official explained.  Belarus 
has already been forced to raise natural gas prices for its 
industrial consumers by 25% to $217.7 per 1,000 cubic meters. 
The country imported a total of 17.6 billion cubic meters of 
Russian natural gas in 2009 - 20.4% short of the agreed volume, 
but Gazprom, according to Russian Ambassador to Belarus 
Alexander Surikov, is not likely to seek compensation from 
Belarus for importing less than agreed.  At the same time, 
Belarus' Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Yevdochenko stated on 
February 16 that Belarus objected to the Gazprom's monopoly of 
gas supply within the Belarusian, Russian, and Kazakhstani 
Customs Union. Commenting on the wish of the Belarusian 
authorities to revise Gazprom's monopoly on gas supplies to 
Belarus the Russian Ambassador said that Belarus must respect 
the monopoly of Russia's Gazprom on natural gas export. When 
Belarusian monopoly exporters supply tractors and trucks to 
Russia, "this is considered normal but when a single Russian 
exporter supplies natural gas, it is considered wrong," he argued 
 
¶8. IMF Most Likely To Issue Final SBA Tranche in late March 
 
An IMF staff mission and the GOB have reached an agreement, 
subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board at the end of 
March, on completion of the fourth and final review of the $3.52 
billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with Belarus, the IMF 
announced.  The final tranche is valued at approximately $700 
million under the current SBA.  According to the IMF staff 
mission statement, "performance under the economic program 
supported by the SBA has been good.  All end-December 
performance criteria and structural benchmarks were met~ The 
recent agreement with Russia on the pricing of imported crude 
oil, in the absence of any offsetting measures, would widen 
significantly the current account deficit and the general 
government deficit.  The government is taking strong actions to 
 
MINSK 00000059  004.3 OF 004 
 
 
contain the effects of the oil price increase on the budget and 
the balance of payments, and Fund staff support these measures. 
Monetary policy and, more specifically, further tightening of 
the limits on lending under government programs would support 
the credibility of the exchange rate regime.  The current 
exchange rate regime remains appropriate~  The authorities made 
good progress on the financial sector issues~ The privatization 
process has been slower than expected and the authorities need 
to step it up to reduce government intervention in the economy 
and to attract foreign direct investment.  The mission reached 
understandings with the authorities on the measures which would 
move the privatization process forward~  The authorities 
expressed interest in continued cooperation with the IMF after 
the expiration of the current program.  A possible follow-up 
program with the Fund could be considered upon the completion of 
the current [15-month] SBA."  The estimated external financial 
gap that GOB will face in 2010 is $2 billion. 
 
¶9. Belarus Suspends Unilateral WTO Accession Talks 
 
Belarus Foreign Ministry official, Anton Kudasaw, announced on 
February 19 that the WTO will soon take up consideration of the 
possibility of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia jointly joining 
WTO as a single Customs Union.  A negotiating team has been 
formed to hold consultations with WTO members on the 
simultaneous accession of the three countries. "Our side is 
suspending unilateral negotiations on accession to the WTO," the 
official explained.  Negotiations may begin after WTO members 
study the explanatory notes for the Customs Union that are 
expected to be submitted soon. 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶10. Speaking at the seminar for ideology officials of Minsk 
region on February 17 the Fist Deputy Head of the Presidential 
Administration Natalia Petkevich said: 
 
"Political and economic culture of Belarusians has grown. As a 
result, their attitude to life and the world has become more 
critical. In this context, ideology methods should change. They 
should not be prohibitive. One should act subtler, wiser and 
more cunningly~ We need an informal approach. The time of 
slogans is gone. We should proceed from life and follow the 
needs of people. If they need information, you should give it to 
them. Otherwise, they will get it from other sources~ Let the 
information originate from ideology services rather than 
opposition websites." 
SCANLAN