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WEEKLY DIGEST
OF BELARUSIAN NEWS
October 31, 2006
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NATIONAL NEWS
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Belarus Pursues
Multidirectional, Consistent and Balanced Foreign Policy
Belarus is an open country,
which pursues multidirectional, consistent, and balanced policy without
pretensions to a leading role. A statement to this effect was made by
President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on the 24th of
October when receiving the credentials of a number of foreign ambassadors.
The solemn ceremony took place in the Palace of the Republic.
“We are just working hard and
honestly for the benefit of our people, for the strengthening of peace and
establishing of a fair world community for everyone to live comfortably. In
this sense, Belarus has no second-rate partners,” Alexander Lukashenko said.
That day, the President
received the letters of credence from the heads of the diplomatic missions
of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Republic of Ghana, Republic of Mali,
Republic of Malta, Mongolia, Republic of Panama, the United States of
America. With the exception of the U.S. ambassador, the diplomats will be
representing the interests of their countries both in Russia and Belarus on
a concurrent basis.
Having remarked that in the
present-day global world distances do not pose barriers to cooperation
between the states of different continents, the President reaffirmed that
Belarus “is prepared to cooperate with those who come to us with good
intentions and constructive proposals.”
According to Alexander
Lukashenko, Belarus comes out in favor of developing mutually beneficial
relations with Malta, and we would welcome the expansion of trade and
economic ties and cooperation in all areas.
The President emphasized that
Belarus is interested in an open and constructive dialogue with the United
States of America along the lines of equality, mutual respect, with due
account of the national interests.
Addressing the Panama diplomat,
the President pointed out that Belarus regards the accreditation of the
first ambassador of the Republic of Panama since the establishment of
diplomatic relations between both countries as an evidence of the
preparedness of Panama towards intensifying relations with our country.
The President said that Belarus
is prepared to boost trade and economic relations with Ghana and Republic of
Mali.
The President believes that the
development of trade and economic cooperation of Belarus with Mongolia and
Bangladesh does not match the existing potential. “Coordinated steps must be
taken without delay in order to increase the bilateral commodity turnover
and make it more diversified,” the President said. He added that the
relations of Belarus with Mongolia and Bangladesh have been “traditionally
friendly and constructive.”
During a short conversation
following the solemn ceremony, the President assured the diplomats that the
Belarusian authorities are ready to examine and implement proposals aimed at
developing the bilateral interaction.
The Government of
Belarus Takes Measures to Prevent Bird Flu
The Ministry of Health of
Belarus has elaborated the Plan of Actions aimed at preventing bird flu in
the country in 2007.
The Plan is based on a similar
document Belarus has been implementing this year and focused on joint
actions of national state bodies, regional administrations and other local
executive bodies in order to prevent the bird flu from entering and
propagating in Belarus.
According to officials from the
Ministry, the present bird flu situation in Belarus does not look dangerous.
The chances of the disease appearing in the country are minimal, as wild
birds have already migrated via Belarus.
Since early 2006 Belarusian
medics have carried out more than 4400 tests of imported breeding poultry,
20000 tests of domestic poultry producers, over 3000 examinations of wild
birds, and around 1600 tests of incubator eggs. No trace of bird flu has
been found.
Belarus is one of the few
states in the region where not a single case of bird flu had been
registered. |
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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
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At the Initiative of
Belarus UN General Assembly Adopts a Resolution on Fighting Trafficking in
Persons
On October 19, 2006 the Third
Commission of the UN General Assembly in New York unanimously passed the
resolution “Improving the coordination of efforts in fighting against
trafficking in persons”, initiated by Belarus. 20 countries from all over
the world became co-sponsors of the resolution.
The Belarusian resolution
evoked tremendous interest among delegations who stressed the relevance of
the resolution and good organization of negotiations.
The resolution calls upon all
countries, international organizations and international community to build
a global partnership on fighting trafficking in persons with an intention to
eliminate all existing forms of slavery, protection of its victims and
prevention of trafficking in persons.
The document presupposes the
creation of a simple and effective coordination mechanism of actions of all
interested international organizations. The group for inter-agency
coordination established by the resolution will represent such a mechanism.
The group will function in Vienna and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime will
ensure its activity. Interested states are also invited to take an active
part in its actions.
The consensus adoption of the
Belarusian resolution demonstrates that the international community has
unanimously supported the proposals of Belarus to improve coordination of
efforts against trafficking in persons.
Full text of the Resolution.
Belarus and IOM
Demonstrate Practical Approach in Combating Trafficking in Persons
International conference on
combating trafficking in human beings, devoted to strengthening cooperation
between source and destination countries on how to reduce demand for
trafficked persons, took place in Minsk on 26–27 October, 2006.
The Conference was organized by
the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus and the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) in cooperation with the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
The event brought together
representatives of governmental bodies from the CIS countries, Central,
Western and South-Eastern Europe, Gulf States, the International Labor
Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC),
other international organizations, diplomatic missions of foreign states in
the Republic of Belarus, as well as public associations.
The Conference provided a
unique opportunity to share best world-wide practices in the field of
combating human trafficking. Special focus at the Conference was given to
cooperation of law-enforcement agencies from source and destination
countries, the problem of trafficking in children and labor exploitation.
IOM: Belarus Most
Resolute Fighter Against Slave Trade
Belarus has been
globally recognized as one of the world’s most resolute fighters against
slave trade. The statement was made by Richard Danziger, head of the slave
trade counteraction agency of the International Organization for Migration
headquarters in Geneva, after the International Conference on
combating
trafficking in human beings
in Minsk.
“The fact that
representatives of forty states have come to Minsk to discuss this urgent
issue is impressive. It testifies to the serious reputation Belarus has
earned addressing international problems”, noted the IOM representative.
Richard Danziger
stressed, Belarus successfully pursues a domestic policy aimed at fighting
the organized crime and vigorously works to resolve the slave trade problem
on the international scale, as is testified by the UN resolution on
counteracting human trafficking. It was Belarus that prepared the draft
resolution.
The official also
praised measures Belarus has taken to assist to slave trade victims.
Speaking about
results of the conference, Richard Danziger noted, “The key task of the
conference is not to produce some recommendations, but to promote contacts
and define how fast our co-operation plans can be implemented. We have
lately made some achievements in fighting the slave trade, which is closely
connected with drugs trade and pornography. The number of tried slave
traders is growing, measures to punish the criminals are getting more
severe, more attention is paid to slave trade victims”. However, according
to Richard Danziger, one should not rest on the achievements. |
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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
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Belarus Is Ready to Open Its Petro-Chemical Industry for Foreign Investors
Belarus is ready to sell shares
of its petro-chemical companies but only given clear-cut and transparent
terms of deals, Minister of Economy Nikolay Zaichenko told recently at the
press-conference in Minsk.
“We are ready to sell blocks of
shares and even controlling blocks of shares of our Oil Refinery or, for
example, JSC "Belshina", but only given obligatory implementation of the
investment part of such projects,” he said.
According to the Minister, the
privatization of companies with up to 500 staff is almost completed in
Belarus. The approach to the privatization of big and GDP-forming
enterprises will be very selective, Nikolay Zaichenko said. “A great number
of people work for these enterprises, up to 30-40 thousand people, and there
can not be any experiments here,” he said. He also added that in the case of
the decision is taken to sell blocks of shares of such companies, the terms
of the deals must be “absolutely transparent" and balanced and only if the
investor is found to be more efficient than the state.
Belarus to Invest $ 1
Billion in Woodworking Industry by 2015
Concern "Bellesbumprom"
has developed a program to expand the Belarusian woodworking industry.
The program is
designed to enliven investment activities in the industry, improve the
industry’s structure, modernize enterprises, promote internal manufacturing
co-operation between the enterprises, and create new kinds of goods, in
particular, better quality wood boards, wallpapers, nonwoven fabrics and
others. The expected investments in the industry are estimated around $ 1
billion.
The construction
of five modern sawmills worth around $22 million will be one of the
strategic directions of the national woodworking industry development.
Another two plants will be built to turn out 200,000 cubic meters of
chipboards annually each. $150 million of investments will be required to
reach the goal. Besides, a plant is supposed to be built to produce thin
medium density fiberboards. Another one is expected to be built to
manufacture thick medium density fiberboard. These two enterprises will cost
about $160 million. Another $15 million will be required to start producing
wooden houses. The capacity for producing plywood will be increased.
Furniture makers will be upgraded. According to the Concern, the new
production facilities will be mostly deployed at the premises of existing
enterprises to completely engage their infrastructure and workforce.
National Bank:
Inflation in Belarus in 2006 Not to Make More Than 7 Percent
According to the National Bank
in 2006 inflation in Belarus is not expected to
be more than seven percent.
In
January-September this year, the National Bank’s monetary policy was aimed
at downsizing inflation. In the nine months of 2006 the index of consumer
prices grew by 3.1 percent (0.3 percent on average per month) as against 4.6
per cent (0.5 per cent per month) in 2005. This year the consumer prices
were growing 1.5 times slower than last year.
Inflation in
Belarus in 2006 is expected to be among the lowest in the CIS. The consumer
prices in Belarus in January-September were growing 2.3 times slower than in
Russia and 1.9 times slower than in Ukraine.
The downsizing of
inflation will remain the ultimate priority of Belarus in the sphere of
monetary policy in 2007 as is stipulated in the document outlining the 2007
targets of the Belarus’ monetary policy. The prices for consumer goods are
to up 6-8 percent in 2007. According to the National Bank, beating inflation
and ensuring stable currency exchange rates are expected to reduce
macro-economic risks, improve the investment environment in the country, and
enhance efficiency of the foreign economic activity and home production to
consolidate positive socio-economic trends in Belarus. |
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SOCIETY,
SCIENCE AND CULTURE
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Belarus and Russia to
Introduce Single Pattern Migration Cards November 1, 2006
Belarus and
Russia will introduce a single pattern migration card as from November 1,
2006.
Foreign citizens
and stateless persons will have to fill in migration cards when they enter
Belarus or Russia from a third state. Migration cards will be issued to
foreigners free of charge on entering Belarus. If foreigners lack migration
cards at a Belarusian border checkpoint, officials of the border guard
troops will issue the cards to them.
The new rules
will not apply to certain persons, in particular, to members of government
delegations, as well as to citizens of Belarus and Russia.
Foreign citizens,
who arrived in Belarus before November 1, 2006, will not have to produce
migration cards to get registered or to leave the country. Old pattern
migration cards issued in the Republic of Belarus or the Russian Federation
will be in effect till January 1, 2007.
Belarusian State
University Celebrates Its 85th Anniversary
On October 30, 2006 the oldest
university of Belarus – Belarusian State University – celebrated its 85th
Anniversary. It was officially inaugurated on October 30, 1921 and the first
lectures were given on October 31.
Today Belarusian State
University is the national leading educational establishment.]
Belarusian State University
employs more than 8.5 thousand professionals, including almost 3 thousand
professors, 4 academicians and 12 corresponding members of the Belarusian
National Academy of Sciences, about 400 doctors of science and more than
1600 holders of Ph.D. degree. More than 24 thousand students attend the
university.
Belarusian State University is
not only the heart of scientific sphere of the country (80 per cent of
scientists of the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences are graduates of
the university), it is also an important production-innovation center. In
2005-2006, new technologies of the university were presented at
international exhibitions in Hanover, Essen, Changchun, Seoul, Beirut, Ho
Chi Minh, Johannesburg, Ankara, Warsaw, Vilnius, Chisinau, Astana, a number
of cities of Russia. At international exhibitions in the Russian Federation,
Lithuania, Poland and Belarus, Belarusian State University was awarded 21
medals and 11 diplomas for high-tech products.
The University pays great
attention to strengthening of cooperation with other domestic and foreign
higher educational establishments. Belarusian State University has concluded
cooperation agreements with more than 90 universities from 31 countries
worldwide. Please, visit
http://www.bsu.by to learn more about the University.
International Festival "Listapadzik-2006" to Feature Movies From 21
Countries
The 8th
International Festival of Children’s and Youth Cinema “Listapadzik-2006”
will be launched in Minsk from November 17 and lasted until November 24,
2006. The works from 21 countries will be presented during the event.
Every year the
number of countries-participants of the festival increases. This year the
audience will watch movies from Belarus, Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Japan, the
USA and other countries. During the festival around 80 feature and animation
movies, created for the last three years, will be shown.
The International
festival “Listapadzik-2006” is organized by the Ministry of Culture and the
Ministry of Information of Belarus, the Minsk City Executive Council, the
Belarusian Union of filmmakers with the participation of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education of Belarus, as well as of
diplomatic missions of foreign countries in Belarus.
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OF
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