US embassy cable - 05MINSK1199

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MINSK 001199 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, ECON, BO 
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - September 30, 
2005 
 
1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled 
by Embassy Minsk over the past week. 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
2. Hail to Luka Youth! 
 
President Lukashenko signed a presidential edict on 
September 24 restoring the Soviet era name, Lenin 
Komsomol of Belarus, to the Brest Drama and Music 
Theater, allegedly at the request of the Belarusian 
National Youth Union (BNYU).  BNYU is the modern-day 
successor to Komsomol and often dubbed as "Lukamol."  In 
Soviet times, Komsomol (Communist Union of Youth) served 
as a system of teaching Communist Party values and 
introduced youth to Soviet politics.  Members received 
privileges and preferences in promotion.  At its height, 
Komsomol had tens of millions of members.  The BNYU's 
membership is around 305,000. 
 
 
3. Gangs Are To Blame 
 
At a September 27 press conference, vice secretary of 
the SCC Yuri Krivosheyev theorized that local youth 
groups orchestrated the recent blasts in Vitebsk as part 
of a turf war.  Krivosheyev stated how many groups, such 
as skinheads, HMR enthusiasts, thieves, etc. often 
gather at the places where the explosions occurred. 
Krivosheyev stressed that the bombs were made by 
amateurs and could hardly be classified as acts of 
terrorism.  On September 29, the phantom Belarusian 
Popular Liberation Army (BPLA) sent a letter to the 
local Vitebsk news agency claiming responsibility for 
the two explosions and threatened to continuing bombing 
unless the GOB fulfilled BPLA political demands.  KGB 
Vice Chief Viktor Vegera informed the press that the KGB 
does not consider BPLA a suspect in the bombings and 
views the events as mere acts of hooliganism. 
 
4. Ethnicity Now A Factor? 
 
Leaders of student groups at Belarusian State University 
are now obliged to present the Dean's office with lists 
of students who identify themselves as Lithuanian or 
Polish.  As reported in the independent newspaper BDG 
Delovaya Gazeta on September 26, the university 
administration claimed the new policy is simply to 
determine the percentage of international students.  In 
a related story, an analyst from the Belarusian National 
Security Institute, Valeri Bobyshev, informed reporters 
that people connected with terrorist organizations may 
be amongst foreign students in Belarus.  According to 
Bobyshev, several foreign students were found to have 
connections to Hezbollah and similar organizations in 
the Middle East.  In a recent case, three foreigners 
from Jordan and Ghana who tried to illegally enter 
Ukraine were students enrolled in Minsk colleges. 
Bobyshev blamed the problem on profit-hungry colleges 
and irresponsible administrators. 
 
------------ 
Human Rights 
------------ 
 
5. Marinich Denied Parole 
 
A prison parole board denied opposition activist and 
former ambassador Mikhail Marinich's appeal for an early 
release on September 23.  The parole board concluded 
Marinich had not "taken the path of correction" and, 
according to Marinich's son Pavel, ignored factors such 
as Marinich's good behavior and poor health.  Marinich 
was sentenced to five years in December 2004 for 
allegedly misappropriating office equipment he received 
from the US Embassy.  In February, a judge shortened 
Marinich's sentence to 3.5 years for his past service to 
the state and deteriorating health.  In August, 
Marinich's sentence was reduced by one year under an 
amnesty law. 
 
6. Journalist Threatened With Jail 
 
On September 26, the Prosecutor General's Office 
summoned Irina Khalip, Belarusian correspondent for the 
Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, to warn her officially 
that she would face criminal prosecution if she 
continues to call for the overthrow of the government. 
 
MINSK 00001199  002 OF 004 
 
 
The warning was in response to Khalip's August article 
in which she analyzed the possibility of a revolution in 
Belarus.  According to the Prosecutor's warning, the 
journalist would be charged with destabilizing public 
order and changing the constitutional system by illegal 
means and sentenced from one to five years in prison if 
she repeats the offense.  Khalip, who is also deputy 
editor of the Belarusian newspaper BDG, was amazed that 
the GOB could issue warnings for publications in Russian 
newspapers. 
 
7. Editors Fined 
 
A Minsk district court on September 26 fined Aleksei 
Korol, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper 
Zhoda, and his deputy editor Aleksandr Sdvizhkov USD 
1300 each for allegedly disseminating knowingly false 
information.  Zhoda had recently printed composite 
photographs of prominent political figures pasted into 
classic paintings.  Korol considered the fines as 
another attack on the independent press and doubted he 
would win the appeal.  In March, police raided the 
newspaper's office in response to an anonymous complaint 
about Zhoda's alleged "subversive" activity.  Criminal 
charges were dropped, but the authorities never returned 
the computer equipment. 
 
8. Skrebets In Prison Hospital.Again 
 
The lawyer for jailed political activist and former MP 
Sergei Skrebets informed the press that his client was 
again transferred from a Minsk pre-trail detention 
center to the National Prison Hospital on September 26. 
Skrebets began his second hunger strike on September 13 
to protest what he describes as his politically 
motivated imprisonment.  Following his arrest in May for 
alleged bribery, Skrebets went on a 40-day hunger strike 
and lost 25 kilograms.  In August, the ex-MP was taken 
to the prison hospital and had just returned to the 
detention center last week.  In addition to his pending 
charges, investigators in September charged Skrebets 
with illegal involvement in business activities. 
 
9. Trade Union Activist Fined 
 
A district court judge on September 28 fined trade union 
activist and Salidarnast reporter Ivan Roman USD 600 for 
allegedly acting on behalf of an unregistered 
organization.  On August 17, the head guard of Grodno 
Plant of Automobile engines (GZA) accused Roman of 
distributing a trade union bulletin allegedly containing 
biased information with foul language that could provoke 
the destabilization of the workers at the plant. 
Despite the documents proving that Roman's union, the 
Union of Electronic Industry Workers (REP), was in fact 
registered, the judge ruled against Roman on the grounds 
that REP had no local chapter in Grodno.  Roman plans to 
appeal the court's decision. 
 
10. Day of Our Solidarity 
 
At a September 29 press conference in Minsk, leader of 
the civil initiative We Remember and member of Free 
Belarus Irina Krasovskaya, Zubr leader Mikita Sasim, and 
independent journalist Irina Khalip called on 
Belarusians to switch off their apartment lights for 15 
minutes on October 16 at 20:00 and place a candle on 
their windowsills.  The leaders named October 16 as the 
Day of Solidarity to pray for the disappeared, political 
prisoners, and their families.  Khalip called the move a 
silent protest that everyone can participate in without 
fearing job loss, academic expulsion, or physical harm. 
 
--------- 
Economics 
--------- 
 
11. Authorities Overstate Grain Figures 
 
On September 27, the Gomel regional State Control 
Committee (SCC) reported that it had discovered multiple 
instances of local authorities misreporting harvest 
figures.  According to the SCC, Zhitkovichi and 
Oktyabrskoye district executive committees "severely" 
overstated the amount of grain gathered from private 
land plots and the Rogachev district authorities could 
not provide documents confirming reported yields.  Some 
authorities admitted they had simply multiplied the 
average yield per hectare with the total area sown to 
grain crops.  The SCC also found discrepancies in yield 
 
MINSK 00001199  003 OF 004 
 
 
figures in the Kalinkovichi, Rechitsa, Lelchitsy, Gomel, 
and Buda-Koshelyovo districts.  The Gomel region 
reported a 1.2 million-ton yield following the harvest. 
 
12. Incomes Grow 
 
The Ministry for Statistics and Analysis announced on 
September 27 that the aggregate incomes of Belarusian 
households increased 15.6 percent on the year to USD 11 
billion.  Incomes grew 28.5 percent while the consumer price 
index increased 11 percent in the same period.  Wages 
accounted for 60 percent of incomes.  The average salary 
increased 22 percent on the year to USD 208, surpassing the 
government's 15-17 percent target.  Household expenses 
totaled USD 10.5 billion; 83 percent on goods and service, 
12.6 percent on taxes and compulsory payment, and 7.6 
percent on savings and foreign currency transactions. 
 
13. Stronger Nationalization Powers 
 
The GOB on September 28 approved new regulations giving the 
state absolute rule over golden-share companies.  The new 
rules enable state agencies to have their decisions 
fulfilled even if such decisions are in violation of the 
decision-making formalities stipulated in the gold share 
regulations.  The golden share is a mechanism allowing the 
state to interfere in an enterprises' activities if the 
enterprise is in an unfavorable socio-economic state. 
Legally, the state can only apply the golden share rule on 
businesses/companies that the state has shares in or once 
owned.  De facto, the state can apply this mechanism whether 
it has a stake in the company or not. 
 
----------------------- 
Bilateral Relations 
----------------------- 
 
14. China, Our Friend 
 
Head of the Presidential Administration Viktor Sheiman 
announced at a September 26 meeting with the Chinese 
Communist Party's Central Committee member Wu Guanzheng that 
cooperation with China is Belarus' top foreign policy 
priority.  Sheiman emphasized the bilateral relations and 
expressed gratitude to the Chinese leadership for supporting 
Belarus in the international arena.  Wu, who is also the 
secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline 
 
SIPDIS 
Inspection, arrived in Minsk on September 25 to met with the 
chair of the SCC Anatoly Tozik and President Lukashenko. 
Lukashenko plans to visit China in December. 
 
15. Russia' New Ambassador To Belarus? 
 
According to the independent, online news source 
Interfax, the new Russian ambassador to Belarus may be 
the former Russian Minister of Transport Routes Gennady 
Fadeyev.  Fadeyev confirmed that the first ambassadorial 
hopeful and former governor of the Saratov Region 
Dimtriy Ayatskov is no longer under consideration for 
the position.  Fadeyev was born in 1937 in Russia's Amur 
Region and graduated from Khabarovsk Railway Engineering 
Institute in 1961.  He served as Minister of Transport 
Routes from 2002 - 2003 and then became the President of 
Russian Railways OJSC.  In 2005, he was appointed Aide 
to the Russian Prime Minister. 
 
----------------------- 
International Relations 
----------------------- 
 
16. Belarus Elected to IAEA Board of Governors 
 
The MFA announced on September 29 that Belarus had been 
elected to the Board of Governors of the International 
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for 2005 - 2007.  The Board 
of Governors is composed of 35 member states that are 
designated and elected by the General Conference.  The 
Board meets five times a year to plan IAEA's accounts, 
program, and budget.  Belarus was last elected to the 
Board in 2000. 
 
------------------ 
Quote of the Week 
------------------ 
 
17. At a September 29 press conference, KGB Vice Chief 
Viktor Vegera accused foreign organizations of training 
Belarusian revolutionaries: 
 
"Young people are taught how to destabilize the 
 
MINSK 00001199  004 OF 004 
 
 
situation in Belarus under the disguise of scientific 
workshops or educational conferences.  Belarusian law 
enforcement agencies prevent them from organizing these 
trainings in the country, that is why they attend these 
workshops in foreign countries." 
 
In his words, dozens of foreign organizations are 
engaged in this "profitable business", including 
Georgian KMARA and Ukrainian PORA. 
 
KROL