Belarus Interested In Stepping Up Economic Cooperation With Oman
Serbian Economic Exhibition Takes Place In Belarus
Belarus is interested in enhancing trade and economic cooperation with Oman, said President of Belarus Alexan der Lukashenko as he met with Chairman of the State Coun cil of Oman Yahya bin Mahfoudh al Manthri on May 26.
The national economic exhibition of Serbia that is held in Minsk on May 26 28 will intensify trade and economic relations between Belarus and Serbia, Trade Minister of Belarus Valentin Chekanov said on May 26, BelTA informs.
Rediscovering Unknown Smoliak Belarusian artist Andrey Smoliak seems always to have some new and unusual projects up his sleeve to surprise ama teurs of contemporary arts. It was not a long time ago that Smoliak enjoyed the triumph of his exhibition at the National Arts Museum to celebrate the artist’s 50th anniversary.
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PACE COMMISSION RECOMMENDS TO RESTORE BELARUS’ SPECIAL GUEST STATUS Combined Report
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he Political Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary As sembly (PACE) on May 26 voted to restore Special Guest status in PACE for a delega tion from Belarus, which was suspended in 1997, BelaPAN said. The committee unanimously adopted a report by Andrea Rigoni of Italy on the situation in Belarus. Andrea Rigoni, who is PACE’s rappor teur on Belarus, proposed that the status be restored provided a mechanism was found for the Belarusian delegation to include representatives of the “extra par liamentary opposition.” Goran Lindblad, chairman of the com mittee who visited Belarus in February, said following that visit that PACE “wants to bring Belarus closer to Council of Europe stand ards.” “Isolation has been tried and it has not worked,” he said. “Andrea Rigoni’s pro posal would allow the beginning of a struc tured dialogue, partly as a response to some positive developments in the country.” How ever, he pointed out that any restoration of Special Guest status – if it was decided by the Assembly – should be temporary, and renewal would depend on Belarus making further progress towards democratization. The issue of Special Guest status for Belarus is expected to be discussed by PACE at its June session. Anatoly Glaz, deputy chairman of the permanent commission for human rights, national relations and mass media of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, said that admission to PACE and the Council of Europe was not a key priority for Belarus. “But partici pation in the institutions will help us bring home our stance on international mat
ters to representatives of European states and take part in the formation of various European institutions,” he said. “Besides, it will give an additional boost to the de velopment of the export potential and investment inflows.” Anatoly Glaz took part in a session of the PACE European Democrats Group. Ses sion “Restoration of Belarus’ Special Guest Status: What have been already done and what we have to do more?” was held in the Czech Parliament. However, Anatoly Glaz stressed that the Belarusian authorities would not tolerate any “dictate” on the part of Europe. “If Europe’s demands appear to concern the country’s sovereignty and security, they will be unacceptable,” he said. “For in stance, the demand to hold demonstra tions in any place is unacceptable. As for the death penalty, I think that we are not ready to abolish death penalty so far. At the same time, we may consider the issue concerning the moratorium imposing,” the deputy said. “But we can take into account European institutions’ proposals if they are drawn up in accordance with the Belarusian people’s interests.” PACE started to receive unbiased infor mation about Belarus which influenced its decision to recommend the restora tion of Belarus’ special guest status, Anatoly Glaz told reporters on May 26. The positive decision has mainly been attributed to the fact that PACE representa tives have visited Belarus multiple times and could see with their own eyes what was going on in the country, while some ten years ago the opposition was virtually their only source of information about the country, the deputy said. According to the PACE charter, a special guest status is a transitional status. Taking
Andrea Rigoni
Photo ByMedia.net
into consideration that PACE unanimously voted for the restoration of this status for Belarus, Anatoly Glaz expressed confidence that Belarus will soon be admitted to this organization. According to him, the deci
sion of the PACE political commission con firms the efficiency and openness of Belarusian policy towards Europe. Vintsuk Vyachorka, deputy head of the Belarusian Popular Front, commented on
the recommendations of the political committee of PACE on returning a status of special guest to Belarus. “When visiting Belarus this winter, Andrea Rigoni gave a rather adequate estimation of the situation in Belarus during the so called probation period. He expressed a proposal of the PACE political affairs committee – to invite for negotiations a mixed group, con sisting of representatives of the authorities and the democratic forces. We supported the proposal as we believe these negotia tions are necessary,” Vintsuk Vyachorka told in an interview to Radio Svaboda. He reminded that the democratic forces have a document setting up principles of the road map for returning Belarus to the Council of Europe. “The document offers basic conditions and terms. A country that doesn’t meet crite ria of membership in the Council of Europe can’t receive any status in the Council of Europe. There must be some progress to wards these criteria and adhering to them. We don’t see this. I think it is a violation of the principles of the Council f Europe in a certain sense,” the politician emphasized. Belarus’ national legislature held Spe cial Guest status in PACE between 1992 and 1997. The status was suspended in 1997 following a November 1996 national re ferendum condemned by foreign obser vers as undemocratic. Shortly after that, Belarus’s application to join the Council of Europe was frozen, and it remains the only European nation that is not a mem ber of the organization. Special Guest status was created by PACE in the 1990s to help countries meet the conditions to become full members of the Council of Europe. It enables parliamen tarians to take part in the Assembly’s acti vities, but without the right to vote.
ITALIAN AMBASSADOR: SILVIO BERLUSCONI IS READY TO VISIT BELARUS BelTA
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talian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is ready to visit Belarus, Ambassador of Italy to Belarus Giulio Prigioni told a press conference in Minsk on May 22. The diplomatic missions of the two countries are discussing this issue. Yet, the Ambassa dor did not specify the date of the visit.
According to him, the date of the visit of the Italian Premier to Belarus will be an nounced in September. “The schedules of the presidents and prime ministers are very busy. At present, it is very difficult to say anything definite. It is possible that in September we will discuss it in greater detail. As for my posi tion as the Ambassador, I am doing my best for this visit to take place,” Giulio Prigioni noted. According to the diplomat, the Italian Embassy jointly with Belarusian organi zations and universities are discussing a possibility to hold exhibitions, shows and conferences in September to mark the beginning of the Renaissance and the impact of the Italian Renaissance on Belarus. “I hope that in this connection, a visit of Silvio Berlusconi may become possible. All these events will become an important stage in the history of our rela tions,” the Ambassador added.
Italy will also continue to provide help to Belarusian children, Giulio Prigioni un derlined. The diplomat noted that Belarus and Italy have been actively developing the humanitarian cooperation for many years. First and foremost, it concerns the recuperation of the Belarusian children from the regions affected by the Chernobyl accident. In recent years Italy has received around 300,000 children from Belarus. «Italy has provided the greatest help and support to the children who suffered from the Chernobyl accident. I believe that Italy can do much in this area,” Giulio Prigioni. Annually, the Italian Embassy in Belarus issues around 45,000 visas “including 35,000 visas to the children who go to Italy under recuperation programs. Some 10,000 visas are issued to tourists and businessmen. We do our best to increase this number. I will try to attract greater attention of the Ita lians to investment opportunities in Bela rus,” the Ambassador said.
Silvio Berlusconi
№ 01 (464) 2 INTERNATIONAL BELARUS MAKING STRIDES IN COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING, UN EXPERT FINDS Combined Report
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elarus is one of the world leaders in counteracting human trafficking, Ms Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, United Nations Spe cial Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, said as she wrapped up a week long visit to the country on 24 May. “I am very impressed by the political commitment demonstrated at the highest level to combat all forms of trafficking in Belarus,” Joy Ngozi said. “Trafficking in persons is a huge global problem that has turned into one of the fastest growing criminal activities in the world today, affecting virtually every coun try either as source, transit and/or desti nation country for women, children and men trafficked for the purposes of sexual labour or labour exploitation,” she stated. According to Ms Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, human trafficking is a global problem facing all countries including Belarus. International cooperation is not just important. It is
absolutely necessary, and Belarus is one of the leaders in this process. During the visit, which was carried out at the invitation of the Government, Ms. Ngozi met with senior officials and rep resentatives of state institutions and non governmental organizations working to combat trafficking. She also visited a shel ter run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the Territorial Center in the capital, Minsk, which pro vides a range of social assistance. Ms Joy Ngozi Ezeilo said that Belarus has ratified all international documents on the fight against trafficking in people. She said the government attaches great importance to the problem and praised the high level of cooperation which Be larus has established with the neighbour ing countries and regional and global or ganisations. “During my official visit I met with representatives of all branches of power. I was impressed with the level of the country’s commitment to fight against trafficking in people and highly appreci
ate the efforts of the government to pro mote cooperation with neighbouring countries and other organisations deal ing with this problem,” she said. Ms Joy Ngozi Ezeilo praised Belarus’ action plan to fight human trafficking, pointed out to a significant number of trafficking related legal suits that ended in guilty verdicts. “The effective human trafficking prosecution in Belarus attests to the fact that Belarus treats human traf ficking seriously and takes concrete mea sures to fight this threat,” she said. According to Ms Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the brightest and even unique examples of Be larus’ achievements in human trafficking prevention include payment of compensa tion to trafficking victims, the plans to set up a database at the international training cen tre run by the Academy of the Interior Mini stry of Belarus. This will help share successful experiences in human trafficking preven tion and contribute to awareness raising. A high number of cases, also resulting in a high number of convictions, are be
ing prosecuted. “The evidence of this huge success in prosecution indicates that the trafficking problem is not only real and serious in Belarus, but also that measures are being undertaken to deal with the menace,” Ms. Ngozi noted. She pointed out some areas in which the country could improve on this issue, such as boosting assistance to victims, ensuring that victims are not stigma tized, and addressing domestic violence which can perpetuate gender inequali ties that can increase people’s vulne rability to trafficking. When asked by BelTA reporter why she chose Belarus as the first country after being appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, es pecially women and children, Ms Joy Ngozi Ezeilo said that our country was among the first that responded to arrang ing such a visit. The UN representative also plans to visit Poland, Japan, Norway and Tanzania. “I am enjoying my stay in Belarus,” she added.
Belarus has ratified the Protocol on Traf ficking in Persons to the 2000 UN Conven tion against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Protocol), under which States are required to take action to ensure the pro tection of trafficking victims, prevent traf ficking and bring traffickers to justice. Ms. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, a Nigerian na tional, assumed her functions as Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, es pecially in women and children on 1 August 2008. Ms. Ezeilo is a human rights lawyer and professor at the University of Nigeria. She has also served in various governmental capacities, including as Honourable Commissioner for Ministry of Women Affairs & Social Development in Enugu State and as a Delegate to the Na tional Political Reform Conference. She has consulted for various international organizations and is also involved in seve ral NGOs, particularly working on women’s rights. She has published extensively on a variety of topics, including human rights, women’s rights, and Shari’a law.
Belarus Interested In Stepping Up Economic Cooperation With Oman B
elarus is interested in enhancing trade and economic cooperation with Oman, said Presi dent of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko as he met with Chairman of the State Council of Oman Yahya bin Mahfoudh al Manthri on May 26. “Your visit to Belarus can be called pivotal. We view your country as one of the most advanced and richest ones in the Persian Gulf. You have established extremely close relations with a very promising and significant country of the region, the United Arab Emirates,” the President said. Alexander Lukashenko said that he remembers very well his meeting with the Sultan of Oman during his visit to this country in April 2007. “Your leader knows everything – from peasant’s life to construction of mo dern day buildings,” the Belarusian head of state said. According to the President, he saw the willingness of the Sultan to develop good relations with Belarus. The sides, therefore, had to choose a mechanism to develop such relations. “In order to find the appro priate mechanism, one has to be familiar with the matter. I have already been to Oman, and now you will be able to see the country with which you might develop friendly relations. We will find the areas of common interest which will help us significantly advance our relations. I would like you to have a good memory of Belarus when you come back,” the Belarusian leader said. The Chairman of the State Council of Oman, in turn, thanked Alexander Lukashenko for the warm reception and on behalf of the Sultan of Oman wished
Belarus to host German Economy Day on June 3 The third German Economy Day will take place in Minsk on June 3. It is organised by the German Belarusian economic club and the representation of the German economy in Belarus with assist ance of the Embassy of Germany. Representatives of the German diplomatic mission in Minsk told BelTA, this time the German Economy Day will be dedicated to agriculture. The event will begin with a plenary session, in which representatives of the Belarusian government, multiple German and Belarusian companies and institutions will take place. A visit to the expo area Belagro 2009 and a report about the Belarusian agriculture will be in cluded in the program. The representation of the German economy is arranging a visit of German businessmen to Belarus for participation in the Belarusian Agribusiness Week 2009. Around 30 rep resentatives of German companies are expected to arrive. The Belarusian Agribusiness Week will allow German and Belarusian businessmen, who are involved in agriculture and food industry, to meet each other, giving a boost to the expansion of economic cooperation between Belarus and Germany. Like in recent years Germany will be one of the most important foreign participants of the Belarusian Agribusiness Week. The Federal Ministry of Economy and Technologies is expected
Belarus prosperity and growth. “The history of our relations goes back to 1992 when the diplomatic re lations were established between the two states, but it was your visit to Oman that brought the cooperation on a brand new level. We intend to develop friendly relations with Belarus. We hope that with your sup port and the support of the Sultan of Oman these relations will further develop,” Yahya bin Mahfoudh al Manthri underlined. Yahya bin Mahfoudh al Manthri remarked that the two countries should promote cooperation in tou rism and energy industry. “The amount of trade turno ver between Belarus and Oman is very modest so far, unfortunately. But it is just the beginning and there is potential for growth,” said the official. He underscored that Belarus Oman relations are based on mutual respect and mutual profits. The key purpose of the Oman delegation visit to Belarus is to step up contacts between the two countries. The par liaments can play a major role in this. According to Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Anatoly Rubinov, the first visit of the Omani delegation to Belarus at such a level is a historical one and will help imple ment the decisions reached during the visit of the Belarusian head of state to Oman. The official visit of the Omani delegation on the invitation of the National Assembly of Belarus will last till May 29. The diplomatic relations between the Republic of Be larus and the Sultanate of Oman were established on
July 23, 1992. In July 2007 Am bassador of the Sultanate of Oman in the Russian Federa tion Abdullah bin Zaher bin Saif Al Hosni was accredited Ambassador in Belarus on concur rent. The issue on appointing Belarus’ ambassador in Egypt an ambassador in Oman on concurrent is being considered. Ho norary consulates operate in the two countries. On April 14 15, 2007, President of Belarus Alexan der Lukashenko paid an official visit to the Sultanate of Oman. Invitations to visit Belarus have been sent to Sultan of Oman Qaboos Bin Said Al Said, members of government and chiefs of research organisations. In 2009 Minsk will play host to another round of ministerial consultations. Belarus and Oman fruitfully cooperate in the UN bodies providing mutual support to each other in many areas, including protection of human rights. Oman upheld Belarus’ candidacy at the elections to ECOSOC 2006 and the UN Human Rights Council for the period of 2007 2010. The legal and treaty basis of the bilateral coopera tion is in preparation. The sides have already signed intergovernmental agreements on trade and eco nomic cooperation, mutual protection of investment, prevention of double taxation; a cooperation agree ment between the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce
to arrange a joint stand at the exhibition Food Industry, while the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Rights — a joint stand at the agricultural technology exhibition Belagro 2009. Around 30 German companies are expected to present their products.
Belarus, UK sign agreement on recuperation of Belarusian children
Kazakhstan PM to visit Belarus June 9
The Republic of Belarus and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland signed an inter governmental agreement on the terms of recupera tion of Belarusian children in Great Britain on May 26. The agreement was concluded through the exchange of notes between the foreign ministries of Belarus and Great Britain, BelTA learnt from the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. The document estab lishes a legal framework for recuperation programmes of Belarusian children in the United Kingdom. Simi lar agreements have already been signed with Italy, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands.
In Astana on May 22, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergey Sidorsky and President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed possible construc tion of Belarusian companies in Kazakhstan. Ac cording to the Premier, the Kazakhstan side showed an interest in the projects and has al ready given certain commissions on the projects. “A delegation led by the First Deputy Prime Minis ter of Kazakhstan has been sent to Belarus. We will offer companies we can construct in Kazakh stan,” Sergey Sidorsky stressed. He explained that first of all it concerns the companies of machine building, pharmaceutical spheres and the produc tion of refrigerators. “We offer Kazakhstan the same we have been building here, in Belarus, in line with the innovation programme,” the Prime Mini ster of Belarus added. The two sides have also agreed that the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan will arrive in Minsk on a working visit on June 9, Sergey Sidorsky said.
Israeli foreign minister to stay in Belarus between June 3 and 5 Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will be on a working visit to Belarus between June 3 and 5, the Israeli embassy in Minsk told BelaPAN on Tuesday. The previous day the foreign ministry of Israel had denied media reports that Minister Lieberman would visit Minsk on early June. Israel’s nrg Maariv news website reported last week that Mr. Lieberman was
and Industry and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Oman; a cooperation agreement between Minsk and Muscat and a memorandum of understanding between the fo reign ministries of the two states. The sides are preparing interstate agreements on providing legal assistance in investigating criminal and civil cases; intergovernmental agreements on air communications, visa free travels for holders of dip lomatic and service passports, and a number of other interagency agreements (in education, tourism, sport, justice, culture and science). In 2008, the trade between Belarus and Oman amounted to about $12 million. Belarus is interested in selling its machinery to Oman. There are great pros pects for investment cooperation and Belarus has a lot to offer here. Two major investment projects are cur rently being developed. Apart from investment, Oman is interested in the development of high tech and sci entific cooperation with Belarus. Joint projects in the tourism area are deemed promising, too.
planning to visit Belarus and Russia in early June to discuss the “threat to the stability of peace that comes from Iran.” According to the source, after the interna tional community had managed to prevent S 300 sur face to air missile systems from being supplied to Iran from Russia, an agreement was reached that the systems, as well as Iskander M short range ballistic missiles, would be sold to Tehran via Belarus. During his visit to Minsk, the Israel foreign minister may offer serious benefits in exchange for a more loyal attitude toward Israel and breaking away from Iran and Syria, said the nrg Maariv site. Apart from financial assist ance to Belarus, Israel may offer to help Minsk im prove relations with the West, according to the source.
Sergey Sidorsky urges Belarusian producers to sell more Today we need to sell more than we produce to unload the stocks of ready made goods, Prime Minis ter of Belarus Sergey Sidorsky said at a session of the Council of Ministers. “We have agreed that the stocks of ready made products at warehouses will not be increased. We do not need the indices for the sake of indices. We need good sales today, the Prime Minister said. According to the Premier, not all the sectors of the economy understand this. Sergey Sidorsky cited the example of the Bellesbumprom and Bellegprom Concerns and the Industry Ministry which have the largest volume of stocked goods at warehouses.
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Pro Government Trade Union Lebanon’s Fransabank Group Federation Hits Back At Critics Stepping Up Effort To Bring Arab Investment Into Belarus BelaPAN
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he pro government Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB) has hit back at the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BCDTU), de scribing its criticism as stupidity. In a May 18 statement, the BCDTU accused the Federation of continuing pressure on independent unions and warned that its actions threatened to disrupt dialogue between the Belarusian authorities and the International Labor Organization. “It is impossible to say a bigger stupidity,” the Federa tion said in a statement on Wednesday. “We should not have paid attention to this foolishness. But the Federa tion of Trade Unions of Belarus regards this as an at tempt to lay the blame on somebody else, considering the absurdity and defamatory nature of this statement.” In its statement, the Congress referred to “pro vocative” remarks made by FTUB leaders about their plans to put an end to the independent trade union movement in Belarus. The BCDTU accused the Federation of barring inde pendent unions from the process of negotiating and signing collective bargaining agreements. The Congress said that the International Labor Organization would have considered the restoration of Belarus’ trade be nefits under the Generalized System of Preferences as early as this June if it had not been for the FTUB’s stance. The Federation attacked separately BCDTU Chair man Alexander Yaroshuk, saying that he had “played a disgraceful role in the introduction of economic sanctions against our country.”
“As far back as 2005, the leader of the BCDTU called for economic sanctions against Belarus and the in stallation along its perimeter of television re trans mitters broadcasting to Belarus,” the Federation said. “It was the leadership of the BCDTU who strongly opposed the Federation’s campaign against the ex clusion of the Republic of Belarus from users of the Generalized System of Preferences.” “The leadership of the BCDTU did everything pos sible to have the trade benefits for Belarus suspended. And now they are weeping over an onion about sub stantial losses from the introduction of the sanctions in the context of the global economic crisis.” “The Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus has been and will be opposing ant popular policies by any organizations and individuals,” it stressed. The Federation added that it would soon issue a “detailed reply.” The BCDTU’s statement came after Federation head Leonid Kozik suggested that independent trade un ions should not enjoy opportunities that the Federa tion has and stressed that the membership of inde pendent trade unions was dropping thanks to efforts by the Federation. In late 2004, the ILO Commission of Inquiry consi dered a 200 page report by a special commission prob ing the authorities’ alleged interference in the activities of Belarusian trade unions and adopted 12 recommenda tions for the government. In December 2006, the Euro pean Union decided to suspend Belarus’ trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences as punish ment for Minsk’s failure to respect independent trade unions’ rights and carry out the ILO recommendations.
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ebanon’s Fransabank Group is stepping up its effort to bring Arab investment into Belarus, the chief executive officer and chairman of the board, Adnan Kassar, told re porters in Minsk on May 25. Located in Algeria, France, Leba non, Libya, Sudan and Syria, Fransabank Group’s assets total $9 billion, Mr. Kassar said. The poten tial for its investment in Belarus is unlimited, and everything depends on the projects that will be suggested, he said. Fransabank Group is ready to advertise Belarus in not only Leba non but also other Arab countries, Mr. Kassar said. This work has actu ally begun already, he added. Belarus is becoming increasing ly open to Arab countries, includ
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ussian Prime Minister Vladi mir Putin said on Monday that he considered it inexpedi ent to use Russian loans for pur chases of Belarusian made farm equipment, reported RIA Novosti. “It would be more expedient to use our lending resources for pur chasing domestic agricultural ma chinery,” the news agency quoted Vladimir Putin as saying at a con ference of key economic minis ters, BelaPAN said. According to the Russian pre mier, the Belarusian government suggested that Russia buy farm trac tors with Russian loans. “The ques tions that our Belarusian friends are putting now are well known,” he said. “They asked us to expand
the opportunity to sell their agri cultural machinery in our market.” A total of 11,000 Belarusian trac tors have been arranged to be as sembled in Russia, Agricultural Minister Yelena Skrynnik reported to the premier. “In the present conditions, it is rather difficult to control the credit supply,” she said, adding that a certain quantity of tractors had already been pur chased with public funds, but no buyer had yet been found for them. While meeting with Pavel Bo rodin, secretary general of the Be larusian Russian Union State, in Minsk on May 19, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergey Sidorsky expressed concern about “restrictions on di rect deliveries of Belarusian equip ment to Russia.” “Rosselkhozbank [Russian Agriculture Bank] does not issue loans to finance [purchases of] Belarusian machines,” he said.
“In fact, deliveries of equipment under direct contracts are re stricted. I think that this will be the subject of our talks. We’ve sub mitted a number of proposals for support of lending in both Belarus and Russia.” The Belarusian prime minister noted that trade between the two countries had dropped by 40 per cent amid the global crunch and continued to decline. “It is not yet felt that our agreements reached at the previous meeting of the Union State Council of Ministers are being finalized. It is worrying,” he said. “Belarus is not taking or adopt ing any other restrictive measures even in the context of the finan cial crisis and is doing everything to ensure that our market is open as much as possible to goods from neighboring states,” Sergey Si dorsky said.
Belneftekhim: Belarus may sign fertilizer supply contract with India in June
Belarus, Iran to resume negotiations on Jofeir project in mid June
In June Belarus may sign a contract with India for the supply of potash fertilizers, Bronislav Sivyi, deputy chairman of the Belneftekhim concern, told a press conference on May 26. The contract of the Belarusian Potash Company for the supply of ferti lisers to India has expired. Now the sides are ready for new negotiations. “In connection with the elec tion campaign, India imposed a three month mora torium on long term contracts,” Bronislav Sivyi informed. In June however, India will need new supplies of potash fertilisers. “We expect that a new contract with India will be signed, most likely, in June,” Bronislav Sivyi said. The signing of the con tract will create the basis for further talks with China. So far China is not in urgent need of fertilisers. It will need them for the 2010 sowing campaign. We expect progress no earlier than July, Bornislav Sivyi said. On the whole, the volume of exports of Belarusian potash fertilizers in 2009 will be deter mined in July, after the talks with India and China, Bronislav Sivyi considers. The exports of potas sium chloride will be a little bit lower this year than in 2008. “We exported 230,000 tonnes in May. It is more than in previous months,” Bronislav Sivyi stressed. In his words, Belaruskaly has consistently been implementing investment projects on pro duction development.
In the middle of June the Belarusian side will resume negotiations on the financing of a project to extract oil in the Jofeir oilfield, Bronislav Sivyi, deputy chairman of the Belneftekhim concern, told a press conference on May 26. In his words, a group of Belarusian experts is currently working on this issue. “On June 15, the relevant negotiations will be resumed,” he said. The Jofeir oilfield is located 30 kilometers to the east of Azadegan oilfield and 70 kilometers from Ahvaz. It is 22 kilometers long and 10 kilometers wide. Its reserves are estimated at 2.1 billion barrels.
Nesvizh Castle offers virtual excursion The National Historical and Cultural Museum Re serve “Nesvizh” has created a data terminal which tells about the history of the castle and the Radzivil family, BelTA learnt from Galina Kondratieva, deputy director of the research department of the museum. The information and educational project was pre sented in Nesvizh on May 21. The data terminal con tains the detailed information about the town of Nesvizh, the Nesvizh Castle, famous representatives of the Radzivil family, one of the richest and noblest dynasties on the Belarusian and Polish lands. The virtual excursion to the Radzivils’ residence of the 16
AAT Fransabank, was converted into a joint Belarusian British bank a year later. Foreign investment reportedly accounted for 73.97 percent of its authorized capital stock. The bank’s equity capital was 5 .8 million as of January 1, 2008. At the end of August, the Na tional Bank of Belarus partly limi ted the bank’s license, citing its failure to deal with business irregu larities. In September, the bank was acquired by Fransabank Group. It was renamed AAT Fransa bank in November. Fransabank is one of Lebanon’s top 10 banks, and is the oldest bank in the country, established in Bei rut in 1921. As of late June 2008, its assets totaled $7.9 billion, autho rized capital stock $659 million, loans $1.9 billion and clients’ de posits $6.7 billion.
Serbian Economic Exhibition Takes Place In Belarus Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The business council will be set up soon. It will improve condi tions for developing contacts between businessmen of Belarus and Serbia. he national economic exhibition of Serbia that The trade and economic cooperation between is held in Minsk on May 26 28 will intensify Belarus and Serbia have been steadily developing. trade and economic relations between Belarus and In 2007 2008, the bilateral trade grew 1.7 times, the Serbia, Trade Minister of Belarus Valentin Chekanov Belarusian export – 2.5 times. In 2008, the trade said at an opening ceremony of the exhibition on between the two countries made up $64.8 million May 26, BelTA informs. (up 20.3%), exports totaled $41.4 million (up 26.7%). “Our trade and economic relations have been stea Belarus’ trade surplus increased by 10.3% up to $23.4 dily developing for the recent years. I agree, however, million. In January 2009, with the opinion that we the mutual trade made up are still at the beginning. “...WE ARE STILL AT THE $3.49 million, export Serbia Belarus trade which $1.97 million, import reaches $65 million is not BEGINNING...” $1.52 million. enough. We can do a lot to VALENTIN CHEKANOV SAID. Over 60% of the exports develop the cooperation to Serbia include sticks taking into account the fact from hot rolled alloy free steel, salt, wire from alloy that the two countries have signed a free trade agree free steel, acetal resin and polyethers. Belarus im ment this year,” Valentin Chekanov said. ports Serbian tool grinders and other equipment, Minister for Trade and Services of Serbia Slobodan wood fibre boards, etc. Miloslavlevich emphasized Serbia’s readiness to de In 2008, Serbian direct investments in the Belarusian velop business cooperation with Belarus. Partaking economy totaled $47,000. In Belarus in 2008, there in the exposition are more than 70 Serbian compa were five companies with Serbian capital (two joint nies. The Belarusian side has been offered to organize ventures and three foreign companies). A recently the similar exhibition in Serbia in the near future. developed dealer network has been advancing the During the official opening ceremony the heads of products of MTZ, Lidselmash, Bobruiskagromash, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Belarus Gomselmash, Belshina, Amkodor, MAZ to the Ser and Serbia signed an agreement on setting up a busi bian market. ness council between the Belarusian and Serbian
Putin Against Using Russian Loans To T Pay For Belarusian Farm Equipment By Marina Nosova Belorusskie Novosty
ing Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Kassar said. Political stability and the improvement of the legal basis for doing business encourage Arab investors, he said. Fransabank Group’s subsidiary in Belarus, AAT Fransabank, will continue to offer standard services and view a search for investors as its top priority, said Adel Kassar, deputy chairman of Fransabank Group’s board. The Belarusian market has favorable conditions and Fransabank Group will do its best to get Arab investors interested in it, he said. Fransabank Group is expected to double the capital stock of its subsidiary in July or August. The assets of AAT Fransa bank had been projected to in crease twofold this year. Registered in October 1994, AAT Zalaty Taler, the former name of
BelTA
19th centuries will be available in three languages – Russian, Belarusian and English. Tourists will be able to get familiar with archives, museum values, rare books from the Radzivils’ Library. The data terminal also offers the information about the tourist services, tele phones and addresses of the significant historical and cultural facilities of Nesvizh. “The creation of the data terminal in one of the most visited museums of Belarus, the Nesvizh Radzivils’ Residence, will expand communication opportunities of the museum, pro vide the information about the monument, develop its cultural and educational potential, attract more vi sitors,” Galina Kondratieva noted. The data terminal has been developed with the financial support of the Moscow UNESCO Bureau, under the auspices of the Belarus National Commission for UNESCO.
voting on the website www.new7wonders.com will stay open till July 7. In July a group of experts will pick up 21 finalists. The new wonders of nature will be announced in 2011. Belarus is also presented in the rivers, lakes, waterfalls nomination (Dnieper is in the 31st place, and Naroch Lake 36th position). Belovezhskaya Pushcha is one of the world’s oldest natural reserves. In 1992 UNESCO included it in the World Heritage List. The national park was awarded the status of a biosphere reserve in 1993 and a spe cial diploma of the Council of Europe in 1997.
Belovezhskaya Pushcha ranks sixth in Wonders of Nature shortlist
A memorial to Holocaust victims will be installed in the Brest region’s Kamyanets where more than 4,000 Jews were imprisoned in a ghetto in 1941 and 1942. The Jewish community in Brest asked the autho rities to allow them to put up the memorial, offering two designs. One of them, a granite stele with a com memorative text in the Belarusian, English and He brew languages, has already been approved by the district authorities. A British based fund provided money for the memorial to be located at the former site of the Kamyanets ghetto. The local authorities pledged to do landscaping work in the area. The memorial is expected to be installed by July 3. Seven teen memorials have been put up in the Brest region to commemorate Holocaust victims.
The Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park ranks sixth in the nomination “Forests, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries” of the Wonders of Nature Cam paign, BelTA learnt from the information and public relations department of the President’s Property Management Directorate. These are the results of the New 7 Wonders of Nature Internet Campaign that was launched in January 2009. New 7 Wonders Foun dation, the Swiss not for profit organization, has selected 261 natural sights from 222 countries. The
Memorial to Holocaust victims to be put up in Brest region’s Kamyanets
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Rediscovering Unknown Smoliak By Yury Budko
B
elarusian artist Andrey Smoliak seems always to have some new and unusual projects up his sleeve to surprise amateurs of contemporary arts. It was not a long time ago that Smoliak enjoyed the triumph of his exhibition at the National Arts Museum to celebrate the artist’s 50th anniversary. And now there is a new exhi bition – Unknown Smoliak, this time the exhibition is held at the Historic Museum. It came as a surprise to learn that artists might also make their painting just to be shelved without much hope that one day people will have a chance to see them. Andrey Smoliak has stored up 80 paint ings. The majority of them are his works created at the beginning of the 1980 ies. It was a time period when a young artist didn’t only find it hardly possible to ex hibit but could also find themselves in a jail for an ideologically incorrect paint ing. And when you watch at Soviet state
officials’ portraits (some of them feature officials with their head backs facing you), at the portraits of ungainly Soviet pio neers, you can’t but admire Smoliak’s bold ness and originality. Nothing has changed since then. Every of his opening days is a challenge to the deep seated museum traditions. This wonderful couple – Andrey Smoliak and his wife Olga who seems to be the only real art producer in the country—are never tired of making up something stunning every time. And today Olga, the main or ganizer of the show, has outdone herself. Instead of opening with the cloakroom the theater begins in the street where a military band at the museum entrance gives a thrilling performance of a modern and quite unexpected for the brass repertoire. Unsurprisingly, the exhibition is themed in the style of the Soviet Union of the 1980ies – the period the political stagna tion in the Soviet Union reached its peak. One could spot some true to life Soviet pioneers with red scarves mingled with
strange freaks in the crowd. Up on the special podiums were standing “live sculp tures” – models demonstrating the latest fashion trends of the 1980 ies. A little band was performing twists and those who wished could easily join them in danc ing. Wonderful presenters – Sergey Kravets and Yevgeny Kryzhanovsky – were con ducting teasingly that exciting folly. And there were many eager to join the fun. The striking performance was given by Galina Shishkova with her latest hit from Robertino Loretti’s Jamaika. To make it easier for visitors to submerge in the unu sual atmosphere and to see everything in the “right” color, everybody at the entrance was given special red glasses, though being just a red frame without glass itself, it helped to see the event in the right color. There fore, everybody became a participant of the performance. And everybody had a chance not to leave it even on walking out of the exhibition hall, as there was a fully equipped dancing stage in the museum yard that was open till midnight.
The museums employees were not par ticularly horrified, as we might suppose. On the contrary, they were taking a real delight in watching what was going on. The museums halls filled with the hum of
multiple voices are not a bad sight to watch. And the long queue that was stand ing to buy an entrance ticket to the exhibi tion has not been seen in the museum since its opening.
NEW PEOPLE WILL BE IN CHARGE OF BELARUSí EUROVISION ENTRY
MediaLot Company is the first in Belarus to stage a fasci nating event, chocolate fights. The company has purchased a special license, as well as brought special liquid sugar free chocolate from Indone sia, rented a special ring that can be used as a pool and trained special fighters, girls with choreographic and mar tial arts experience. The fight ing turned out to be a real per formance with spectacular competition events.
Founder: Yuri I. Budko Основатель: Юрий Будько
Andrey Smoliak and his wife Olga
BelaPAN
N
ew people will be put in charge of pre paring Belarus’ entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, Alexander Lukashenko told repor ters on Friday while visiting his native village of Aleksandriya near Shklov, Mogilev region. Work on new ideas began as far back as a week ago, the Belarusian leader said. «Every thing will be replaced, including the company and the people,» he said. Mr. Lukashenka expressed dissatisfaction with Belarus’ performance in this year’s Eurovision contest. «I’m pretty much fed up with this babble, fighting and what not,» he said. «Old trash and junk, there’s no other way to describe it. They gathered around it for self publicity and, to top it all off, they may now be dividing money among themselves. We’ll find everything out.» Speaking about Belarus’ contestant Petr Yelfi mov, Alexander Lukashenko said, «They complained to me a month or a month and a half before the contest,» he said. «I finally got tired and said, “Don”t get in the way. We’ve chosen him and cannot re place him. Let’s not participate [in the contest] at all this year if he gets too wayward.’ We decided to participate. The result is known.»
Chief Editor: Vladimir Ivanushin Главный редактор: Владимир Иванюшин
The 29 year old Mogilev born Petr Yelfimov missed out on the final of the contest, placing 13th of the 18 contestants in a semifinal on May 12. However, he said that his performance was superb and accused the national delegation and Belarusian journalists of the lack of attention to him. He announced that he would complain to the head of state. “I have much to say to the president, from organizational to human mat ters,” Petr Yelfimov told BelaPAN upon his re turn to Minsk. “Before going to the Eurovision, I had said much and tried to draw attention to many things, but nobody had listened to me or my manager.” Belarus placed sixth among 42 contestant nations in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007. That relative success was given ecstatic cove rage by Belarus’ major television networks, which described it as a great achievement of the country as a whole and a victory that Belarus had been working for four years. Alexander Lukashenko extended official presi dential thanks to the singer, Dmitry Koldun, and to Alexander Tikhanovich, director of the Be larusian State Television and Radio Company’s Eurofest program, “for the efficient preparations for the contest, which ensured the successful performance.”
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