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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK
001045
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, ECON,
ENRG, BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY
POL/ECON REPORT - December 21, 2007
1. The following are brief
items of interest compiled by Embassy
Minsk.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Civil Society
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- Market Vendors Conduct
Nationwide Strike (para. 2)
- Opposition Groups Protest
Social Benefit Cuts (para. 3)
- BGKB Resumes Malady Front
Criminal Case (para. 4)
- Small Business Activists
Jailed and Fined (para. 5)
- BKGB Raids Opposition Office
(para. 6)
- Court Denies "For Freedom"
Registration (para. 7)
Domestic Economy
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- GOB Purports to Simplify
Business Registration (para. 8)
- First U.S. Investment in
Belarus´ Banking System (para. 9)
International Trade
-------------------
- Direct Investment Increases
(para. 10)
Quote of the Week (para. 11)
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Civil Society
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2. Market Vendors Conduct
Nationwide Strike
Tens of thousands of market
vendors around Belarus took part in a
one-day strike December 19,
protesting recently announced hiring
restrictions and last week´s
court rulings against five small
business activists. Anatoliy
Shumchenko, the leader of the
pro-entrepreneur group
Perspektiva, led the strike. Vendors in all
regional capitals except
Vitebsk participated. Another association
of small business owners, For
the Free Development of Enterprise,
plans to begin an open-ended
nationwide strike against the employee
restrictions on January 1, the
day the new restrictions are to be
implemented.
3. Opposition Groups Protest
Social Benefit Cuts
United Civic Party (UCP)
activists demonstrated in Minsk December 15
and distributed leaflets
protesting social benefit cuts. According
to UCP Chair Anatoliy Lebedko,
authorities denied approval for
approximately 800 rallies
across Belarus, but could not prevent
activists from distributing
printed materials. Over 10 people
staged an authorized hour-long
rally in a remote part of Mogilyov
December 16. About 100 people
demonstrated for 45 minutes and
peacefully dispersed in Gomel.
Police briefly detained two
opposition youths in central
Brest December 16 for passing out
leaflets to protest the cuts,
seizing 64 fliers. On December 17, 20
opposition activists organized
a flash mob in Brest. Two activists
there were also briefly
detained and released without charges.
4. BGKB Resumes Malady Front
Criminal Case
The Gomel BGKB December 14
resumed its criminal case against youth
opposition activist Andrey
Tenyuta on charges of acting on behalf of
the unregistered organization
Malady Front (MF). The BGKB initially
opened a criminal case
September 18 after repeatedly questioning
Tenyuta and confiscating his
computer during a raid on his
apartment. Tenyuta
unsuccessfully petitioned for the return of the
equipment after authorities
suspended the case in November. He is
now facing up to two years in
jail on charges of "discrediting state
agencies, destabilizing the
social and political situation, and
engaging youth with radical
propaganda."
5. Small Business Activists
Jailed and Fined
A Minsk district court
December 17 sentenced small business activist
Nikolay Sergeyenko to ten days
in jail on petty hooliganism charges.
The police detained Sergeyenko
December 6 during a search of his
offices, charging him with
disorderly conduct and using profanity.
In a separate case, a judge in
Gomel December 18 fined small
business activist Irina
Kaminskaya 350,000 rubles (USD 170) on
charges of violating laws
regarding mass events. Kaminskaya has
been active distributing
printed materials protesting new business
regulations.
6. BKGB Raids Opposition
Office
BKGB officers raided the
United Civic Party (UCP) Gomel office
December 14 and seized printed
materials and DVDs. The officers
MINSK 00001045 002 OF 002
asserted that they were
looking for fliers calling for protests
against social benefit cuts.
On December 15, the BKGB searched the
apartment of Gomel UCP office
Deputy Head Vladimir Katsora and
confiscated over 5,000
leaflets.
7. Court Denies "For Freedom"
Registration
The Supreme Court December 18
upheld the Ministry of Justice´s (MOJ)
registration denial for
opposition leader Aleksandr Milinkevich´s
movement "For Freedom" (FF).
It is the third registration denial
based on violations of laws
governing mass events. The MOJ asserted
that the group´s founding
convention held August 11 was illegal and
unsanctioned. FF Deputy Head
Yuriy Gubarevich maintained that the
FF would hold additional
founding conventions and continue to submit
registration applications.
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Domestic Economy
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8. GOB Purports to Simplify
Business Registration
President Lukashenko December
17 signed Decree Number 8, to simplify
the registration process for
new businesses. Starting on January 1,
registration agencies will no
longer examine application papers,
instead holding applicants
liable for any non-compliance with
regulations. The decree also
halves the required charter funds of
new businesses, cuts the
number of required application papers,
reduces application processing
time from twenty to five working
days, and eases the
liquidation process.
9. First U.S. Investment in
Belarus´ Banking System
Management company Monister
Investments Ltd., a Cyprus-based
division of the U.S. firm
Horizon Capital, December 14 acquired a
31.5 percent stake in Minsk
Transit Bank. Currently, the bank´s
major shareholder (60 percent)
is car dealer Atlant-M. Bank
managers in a press conference
expressed their belief that Belarus´
banking sector is the
country´s most attractive sector for foreign
investors.
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International Trade
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10. Direct Investment
Increases
The Belarusian Ministry of
Economy reported December 18 that foreign
direct investment has risen
during the last three years, totaling
USD 451.3 million in 2005, USD
748.6 million in 2006, and USD 905
million in the first nine
months of 2007. According to the
ministry, Russia accounted for
30.4 percent of all foreign
investment in the Belarusian
economy in the first nine months of
2007, up from eight percent in
the same period of the previous year.
The United Kingdom was the
next largest investor in Belarus,
accounting for 19.8 percent of
all foreign investments, followed by
Austria (10.9 percent),
Switzerland (9.3), Germany (7.2), and Cyprus
(6.8). The industrial sector
reportedly received 43.8 percent of
all foreign investments, up
from 22 percent in 2006.
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11. Quote of the Week
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BKGB Chairman Yuriy
Zhadobin on why his organization no longer
investigates paranormal
phenomena:
"Unlike during the USSR,
the department is not engaged in studying
paranormal phenomena.
[Back then,] we had greater means and
opportunities which we
could spend on anything and everything.
Today the situation is
different. Then, when society was excited by
something, it entered
our sphere of interest. But when it comes to
healers, UFOs and such,
we just can´t deal with them any more."
Stewart
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