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WEEKLY DIGEST
OF BELARUSIAN NEWS
August 13, 2004
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NATIONAL NEWS
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Belarusian Authorities Will Control
Tender to Choose Third GSM Company
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko plans to establish
a strict control of the open international tender to sell a license for
third GSM 900/1800 operator.
"I will establish the strictest control of the tender. This
is huge money, state security, and highly compensating project," the press
service quoted the President as saying. Lukashenko stressed that the tender
will be as open and transparent as possible.
Belarusian Ministry of Communications announced on June 30 an
Open International Tender to sell the license of the country's third
operator of the GSM 900/1800 standard. The new GSM operator will be set up
as a joint venture, in which the state telecom hub operator is to hold 51%.
The license will be issued for five years and may be extended for another
five years. The deadline for applications was set at 12:00 September 21,
2004. The application package costs 5,000 euros, while the tender guarantee
is to amount to 500,000 euros. Belarus is ready to provide the third
operator with 12 frequency channels in 900 MHz range and 50 channels in the
1800 MHz range.
Currently, Belarus has two GSM 900/1800 operators, Mobile
Digital Communications, which operates under the Velcom trademark, and
Belarusian-Russian MTS, and one NMT 450 and cdma2000 operator
Belarusian-British joint venture BelCel. The state holds controlling stakes
in both GSM operators. Belarus' total subscriber base amounted to 1.677
million users as of August 1, up from 1.1 million as of January 1.
Foreign Ministry's Comment on Senator
John McCaine's Statement
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the allegations
about visa refusal to US senators as false and baseless.
The Belarusian authorities gave no refusal to US Senator John
McCaine and his four colleagues in visas, but proposed to put off the date,
stated spokesman for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Belarus Andrei
Savinykh on August 11.
"Belarus was ready to receive the US delegation and prepare a
programme of stay," said Andrei Savinykh. He underlined that "the existing
hosting practice necessitates that the dates and the program of stay be
agreed by two parties."
Andrei Savinykh said, "The date of the visit did not suit us.
However, being interested in the constructive dialogue with the USA, we
suggested that the visit be put off until the parliamentary elections in
Belarus are over," the Foreign Ministry Representative explained the
position. "The date we proposed suits us better, as we will have time to
accord a hearty welcome, which will increase the efficiency of the meeting,"
added Andrei Savinykh.
The position was communicated to Senator McCaine. "His
statement arouses surprise and casts doubt on the constructiveness of his
earlier declared intentions," said Andrei Savinykh.
(The Press Release of the Embassy of Belarus in the USA on
that issue was placed at
http://www.belarusembassy.org/news/digests/081104.htm)
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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
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On Invitation of OSCE Observers to the
2004 Parliamentary Elections
On August 12 the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Belarus sent
an invitation to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights to observe the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The decision demonstrates Belarus' strict adherence to
conducting free, open and democratic elections.
Belarusian State Flag Hoists in Olympic
Village in Athens
The official ceremony of hoisting of the State Flag of the
Republic of Belarus took place in Athens on August 11. It was attended by
athletes, coaches, and officials from Belarusian official team. A warm
welcome was extended by Athens' mayor who wished the Belarusians successful
starts.
A total of 153 Belarusian athletes will compete in 23 sports
at the Olympic Games which will be officially opened on August 13. For the
first time Belarusians will participate in the equestrian and sailing
sports.
At the recent international competitions held in Staiki near
Minsk, Irina Yatchenko set the season's best record in discus throwing
69,14m. Andrei Mikhnevich and Yuri Belov put the shot over 21 meters.
Svetlana Usovich set a new national record in 400m track.
Belarusian athletes have shown promising results in boxing,
weight lifting, swimming, wrestling, and shooting. The games in Athens will
be the 4th Olympic Games for two-time Olympic champion in rowing Yekaterina
Karsten and the fifth Olympiad for Igor Basinskiy, who has already won two
silver and one bronze medals in shooting. The Belarusians have won a total
of 86 gold, 47 silver and 56 bronze Olympic medals.
Negotiations on Belarus Accession to
WTO Have Come to a Final Stage
The talks on Belarus's accession to WTO have come to a final
stage. A meeting of the working group on Belarus's acceding to the World
Trade Organization will take place on September 30 in Geneva.
Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Office and
other International Organizations Based in Geneva Sergei Aleinik noted that
the main objective at the upcoming meeting is to proceed to the draft final
report of the working group on Belarus's commitments on the strategic
issues. After that, specific terms of Belaruss accession to the WTO will
appear on the agenda.
This year Belarus has passed an important law regulating the
issues of technical regulation and standardization. The Chamber of
Representatives of the National Assembly passed in the first reading the set
of bills aimed at implementing the WTO agreements in the national legal
system.
Joining the WTO will grant Belarus non-discriminative access
to the markets of 147 WTO member-states. Membership in the WTO will reduce
the risk of applying discriminative measures regarding certain Belarusian
goods, and will contribute to creating better investment climate for foreign
capital. Belarus will use the WTO for advancing its trade-economic
interests. It is important to enhance the prestige of Belarus as a reliable
and stable trade partner.
On Conference of Ministers of Foreign
Affairs of the Non-Aligned Movement
On August 17-19 the 14th Conference of Foreign Ministers of
the Non-Aligned Movement will be held in Durban, South Africa. A delegation
of the Republic of Belarus headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Belarus Alexander Sychev will participate in the Conference.
In compliance with the decision of the Movement's
coordination bureau Belarus will be a Deputy Chair of the Conference.
In order to work out the final document of the Conference the
Political and Economic Committees will hold meetings on 17-18 August in
which Belarusian diplomats will take part as well. The participation of
Belarus in the conference will further strengthen interaction with the
Non-Aligned Movement as well as develop cooperation with partners in Africa,
Latin America and Asia.
In the course of the Forum Alexander Sychev will hold a
number of bilateral meetings with heads of other delegations. The sides will
discuss issues of bilateral cooperation, in particular, the development of
political dialogue, trade-economic relations, and mutual support during
elections to the leading and working bodies of international organizations.
At present, 114 states enjoy the status of full members of
the Non-Aligned Movement. 16 countries have observer status. Belarus got
observer status in September 1997. It became a full member of the
organization in Durban on September 2, 1998. Belarus regularly participates
in the activity of working groups and meetings of the coordination bureau of
the Non-Aligned Movement in New York. With the assistance of the
organization, representatives of Belarus were elected members of the UN
sub-commission on human rights, UNESCO Executive Committee and UN Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
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Belarus' GDP up 10.2% in Jan-Jul
Belarusian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 10.2% as
of August 1, the Ministry of Statistics reported.
Industrial output in January-July amounted to 25.818 trillion
Belarusian rubles, up by 14.9%. Agriculture output as of August 1 stood at
3.6 trillion Belarusian rubles, up by 3.4%.
The Belarusian government set the GDP growth target at 9-10%
for 2004, industrial output at, 9-10%, agriculture output, at 9-11%.
The Ministry of Finance Expects Budget
Deficit Decrease
High GDP growth rate and improved financial situation of
enterprises have preconditioned budget revenues increase. In Jan-Jun,
consolidated revenues were executed by 107.3% of the plan for this period.
Targets for all major sources of tax revenues were fulfilled. Revenues plan
over-fulfillment allowed the government to slightly increase expenses
(primarily for funding of social sphere and capital investments). As a
result, in June the fiscal deficit amounted to BYR 9.7 bn, which led to
fiscal surplus decrease in Jan-June down to BYR 298.2 bn (1.4% of GDP).
According to the Ministry of Finance estimates, a favorable situation with
budget execution will allow cutting the deficit in 2004 from planned 1.8%
down to 1.1% of GDP.
During the Presidium sitting the Council of Ministers
considered draft budget law for 2005. It is envisaged that central
government revenues will increase in nominal terms by 27.4% compared to the
expected performance in 2004; expenditures will grow by 28.9%. It is also
planned to lower emergency tax rate from 4 to 3% and aggregate tax rate for
taxes from revenues 4.15 to 2.75%, and to abolish privileges in income tax
for newly established companies with foreign investments. At the same time
central government tax revenues should grow by 20%. Also, consolidated
budget should include non-budget innovation funds. All these provisions
would increase fiscal transparency and decrease tax burden. Fiscal deficit
is expected to be BYR 885 bn (1.5% of GDP).
Belarus' MTZ Plant Says Jan-July
Tractor Output Up by 30.1%
The tractor output of Belarus' tractor manufacturer Minsk
Tractor Plant (MTZ) increased by 30.1% in January-July to 20,285 units.
MTZ's output in monetary terms in the period went up by 27.2%
to 520 billion Belarusian rubles. The plant plans to raise tractor output by
7.5% in 2004 to 28,900 units.
MTZ is one of the world's largest tractor makers and the
biggest tractor producer in the CIS. The plant has an annual capacity of up
to 50,000 tractors, including 10,000 MTZ-1221 and MTZ-1523 tractors with the
capacity between 100 and 200 hp. MTZ exports 85% of its output, Russia
accounting for about 50% of all MTZ's exports.
On Belarusian Exports of Chemical
Threads and Fibers
In January-June, the enterprises of the Belarusian chemical
industry increased the exports of chemical threads and fibers by 36% to $62
million.
The exports grew by 23% to 47 thousand tons. The growth is
attributed to the favorable situation on the foreign market.
If compared to 2003, prices grew by 10%. About 43% of exports
are directed to Russia with the rest going to the Ukraine, India, Poland,
Iran, Turkey, China and USA. The total volume of threads and fibres' output
in H1 2004 grew by 28.9% to BYR 275 billion. The growth in production
volumes was ensured by Grodno Khimvolokno (19.5% up), Polimir (47.1% up),
Mogilevkhimvolokno (36.1% up) plants.
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CULTURE AND SOCIETY
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Recent Population Census in Belarus
According to the recent population census, there are around
8.15 million people in Belarus, who call themselves Belarusians (some 81% of
the population).
Around 140 other nationalities live in the country alongside
with Belarusians. Russians (1.1 million people), Poles (395,000), Ukrainians
(237,000), Jews (28,000), Tatars (10,000), Gypsies (10,000), Armenians
(10,000), Lithuanians (6,000), and Azerbaijanis (6,300) top the list.
Around 40 other nationalities, each numbering less than 10
people, also live in Belarus.
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