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Books on Belarus
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Update No: 319 - (26/07/07)
The Belarussian blimp
Belarus is in a time warp, somewhere at the height of the lamented Cold War. Its
president and top 50 officials are ostracised in the West.
Its president, Alexander Lukashenka, is an extraordinary man. He is
extraordinarily brave, which only goes to show that courage is a secondary
virtue (Hitler had the Iron Cross, First Class, Goering the record bag of hits
as an airman in the Lufthaffe after Richtofen); he is also foolhardy in the
extreme. He is quite unaware of what he is doing, like most of the world's
leaders, it must be said
The last of the Mohicans: Chávez, Lukashenka and Fidel become emblems in Russia
Russian communists intend in their upcoming presidential campaign to use the
images of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez and Alexander Lukashenka - three characters
outstanding for their drastic rhetoric about the West, said the Russian news
agency Novosti on its website. Ivan Melnikov said the Cuban leader, the
Venezuelan President and the Belarus ruler could be deemed "symbols"
of the campaign the KPRF is waging for parliament elections next December.
The last stand of the communists? No, of the Mohicans or the last of the
Marxists? It is not quite clear which the gallant three are closest to. Actually
not a single one of them has understood Lenin, who realised the need for a New
Economic Policy accommodating capitalist business very quickly, which he
inaugurated as soon as the Civil War was over in 1921.
No new NEP from the communists
It is certain that there will be no similar concession to the bourgeois world.
When Lenin, a titan of world politics whatever one may think of his views.
decided on NEP, he knew what he was doing. He was going for the long haul.
He reckoned on several generations of salvation, preparing for the make-over of
all values, the mischievous upheaval of the world, in which everything
eventually goes upside down. An abstemious man himself, he was quite content
with a modest way of life, unlike Lukashenka, who relishes the good life.
Russian Communist Party leader Guennadi Zugyanov in transient June, 2007
announced that he was willing to run for Russian presidency in the March 2008
vote. Zugyanov (63) has run for Russian presidency twice: in 1996, when he lost
to Boris Yeltsin, and in 2000, when he was defeated by Vladimir Putin.
"We are going to use their images within the legal framework," he
said, adding that Castro's, Chávez' and Lukashenka's "successful practical
work shows the validity of our political and economic platform."
Polish spies uncovered in Belarus
Regimes like the Minsk one are full of paranoia and are fearful of spies
everywhere. There is something about Minsk that has long attracted the denizens
of espionage and dirty tricks (Lee Harvey Oswald lived there in the 1950s).
Officers of the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) have uncovered Polish
intelligence residents in Belarus, KGB deputy chairman Viktor Vegera said on the
air of the Belarusian ONT TV Channel on June 15th. Five people, former soldiers,
who were gathering information in the interests of Poland's intelligence
agencies were detained, the deputy chairmen said, adding that the information
dealt with the condition of the joint Russian-Belarusian air defence system.
Spies have, nevertheless, not damaged Belarus' defence capacity, Vegera said.
His vigilance and that of his service saw to that.
Meanwhile, former serviceman, Vladimir Ruskin, said that at his trial that
Polish intelligence agencies had recruited him in Poland. Polish customs
officers found five times as much alcohol as was permissible in his luggage, he
said, adding that Polish intelligence agencies proposed to him that they would
shut their eyes to the fact, if he become a resident in Belarus working for
them.
Another suspect, former head of military intelligence at a Belarusian air and
missile defence brigade, Viktor Bogdan, was detained in his office.
Moreover, one more suspect, a Russian citizen, had already surrendered to the
Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). A criminal case was opened on charges of
spying (Part 1 of Article 356 of the Belarusian Criminal Code) against them. The
case was taken to court,
This sort of thing keeps Big Brother in Minsk happy, the recurrent backdrop to
his court.
Belarus to Close U.S.-Funded NGOs
President Lukashenka on July 13th vowed to shut down non-government
organizations found receiving U.S. funding, saying Belarussians who take such
financing are destroying the country. Lukashenka also demanded that Washington
stop supporting Belarussian opposition parties. He and other top members of his
government have been hit with travel and financial sanctions in the European
Union and the United States.
Lukashenka did not name any specific nongovernmental organizations, but said
they would be closed quickly. "Those who bring money into Belarus
illegally, they are destroying themselves with this money," he said.
US President George W. Bush "needs to deal with his own problems -- Iraq,
other hot spots the United States has created -- and worry less about those
countries where they're trying to support the opposition," he said.
"Bush has significantly more problems then we do. Here's one place where
money can be sent: the inflation of the dollar has taken on horrifying
sizes," he said.
Earlier this year, a dispute with Russia over cheap energy exports resulted in a
showdown that led to Russia sharply hiking oil costs for Belarus, whose
Soviet-style command economy is still heavily reliant on cheap Russian supplies.
Lukashenka subsequently sent signals that he sought to ease relations with the
West, but the EU and the United States demanded his government release all
political prisoners as a condition for talks. "When the Europeans begin
proposing some kind of step-by-step strategy, this embarrasses me," he
said.
Belarus is among several former Soviet republics that have targeted
nongovernmental organizations after seeing the key role that foreign-funded
groups played in uprisings that toppled the governments of Georgia in 2003 and
Ukraine in 2004.
Months after saying he would not tolerate the use of foreign money in politics,
President Vladimir Putin early last year signed a law that required all
nongovernmental organizations to reregister with the government under tighter
rules and to open their financial books to state scrutiny.
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BANKING
VEB buys 53.2% of Belvnesheconombank
Russia's Vnesheconombank (VEB) has bought 53.2 per cent of Belvnesheconombank, a
source in the Belarussian bank told Interfax News Agency.
VEB bought stakes owned by NBB (33.52 per cent), the State Property Committee
(6.66 per cent), government enterprises (7.2 per cent) and a number of stakes
from minority shareholders. As of June 12th, 2007, VEB had invested US$24.1
million in Belvnesheconombank shares. VEB has been buying up shares since May
3rd at a market price of 403 Belarussian rubles for one share with a par value
of 100 roubles. The share purchase will continue until November 2nd. Belarussian
President Alexander Lukashenko allowed VEB to buy shares in Belvnesheconombank
in December 2006. The Russian government approved VEB's initiative. The biggest
shareholders in Belvnesheconombank are the Russian National Space Bank (32.4 per
cent) and CJSC Pinskrdev (6.2 per cent).
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ENERGY
ABN Amro inks deal to modernise refineries
The Belarusian government and ABN Amro signed a cooperation agreement on June
21. Belarusian Prime Minister, Sergei Sidorsky, defined four areas of
cooperation at the meeting with ABN Amro officials, namely, oil and gas transit
projects; modernisation of Belarusian refineries; funding of the Belarusian Oil
Company; and financial cooperation in chemicals and petrochemicals, New Europe
reported.
The sides also signed agreements on training and consultations for personnel at
the Belarusian Oil Trade House and the Belarusian Oil Company, and statements of
intent on terms of pre-export credits for Naftan and the Mozyr refinery.
Belarusian refineries yearly process over 20 million tonnes of crude and their
modernisation is rapid, Sidorsky said. "Our next step would be the
centralisation of resources at the Belarusian Oil Company, which will be
launched in July. The company will become the leading exporter f petroleum
products to Europe," he said. ABN Amro evaluated Beltransgaz assets,
"which created mutual confidence and enabled further cooperation," he
said. The bank has offered the Belarusian government a long-term loan of up to
500 million Euro.
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