The chairman of the United Civil Party Anatol Lyabedzka has received an answer from the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Belarus to his request to investigate the fact that the budget does not include information about income from arms trade. As Radio Svaboda reports, Procurator Kandrusik in his answer informs that these questions are outside the Public Prosecutor’s office’s competence.

---

Today in the court of the Lenin district of Minsk during pleadings he Public Prosecutor has required seven years of hard labor colony with confiscation of the property for Alyaxandar Chyhir, a son of the former Prime Minster. Alyaxandar Chyhir, Anton Yashyn, Dzmitser Yutskevich are accused of car stealing (Article 205 Part 4 of the Criminal Code of Belarus). The prosecutor suggested eight years of imprisonment in hard labor colony with confiscation for Yashyn, and 11 years of colony with confiscation for Yutskevich.

---

Court of the Moskovsky district of Minsk sentenced former head of the 4th city clinics Nikolai Krutyanov to five- year imprisonment, finding him guilty of bribery, embezzlement and power abuse. Chief physician Nikolai Krutyanov was detained by the Moskovsky police department for economic crimes on June 21, 2001 within the framework of the so-called operative experiment on offering him a $500 bribe by the director of the “Slav” company.

---

This is an involuntary measure. The budget resources, earmarked for the science for 2002, can be equated to the amounts in 1995. The National Academy of Sciences was underpaid this year a sum, which constitutes a five months salary of all researchers. Out of the allotted funds the Ministry of finances will eat away another 15% portion. When asked by the leaders of the academic organizations why this happens, the newly appointed Academy of Sciences president Mikhail Myasnikovich only shrugged his shoulders – the state simply lacks resources. The NAS administration found a witty way out of the situation: they simply sent everyone on a holiday leave.

---

Leninsky district procuracy of Minsk instituted legal action against the administration of the Minsk cemetery “Vostochnoye”. Both the director and the custodian are indicted for bribery and selling the elite places for burials. At present, we know of more than 60 facts of the illegal trade in cemetery places.

---

USA won’t extradite to Ukraine the ex-Prime Minister Pavel Lazarenko and the former major of the Ukrainian security service Nikolai Melnichenko, as far as no extradition accord had been signed between Ukraine and the USA, said at the Saturday’s press-conference assistant deputy Secretary of State Steven Pifer.

---

One more trade union organization, “Homelsteklo Ltd.”, decided to start a trade debate with the administration of their plant. It is the third decision of trade unions about a debate with employers this week. The analogous decision was made by miners of Salihorsk (“Belaruskalij”) and by republican trade union of the agriculture automobile industry.

---

In 2002 the government and the National Bank predict a price rise by 20-27%. But in the beginning of the year the prices have started to grow so rapidly, that the calculations cannot be fulfilled. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Analysis, in the first two weeks of February the consumer prices have grown by 2.5%. As compared to the beginning of the year, the prices have grown by 8.8% (contrasted with 6.9% for the analogous period of the last year).

---

Eberhard Haiken’s first reaction to the Foreign Ministry’s call with a proposal to head the OSCE mission in Belarus was a sincere surprise. But it didn’t take Haiken much time to consent with the offer. “That was a strong impetus to do something else, a real challenge,” – said a 66-year old diplomat. The diplomat is using the word “challenge” as far as the head of the OSCE mission in Minsk is currently in the frontline of events. His predecessor at the post Hans-Georg Wieck has numerously realized that it was truly so. For instance, the president of Belarus, using autocratic methods of governance, many times rebuked Wieck over the power abuse in preparing local observers at the elections. Lukashenka went as far as to accuse the OSCE representative of alleged training armed guerillas to overthrow the regime. Wieck had more that once been threatened with banishment. However, the perspective of joyless and time-consuming disputes with an obstinate Alyaxandar Lukashenka, nostalgic over the Soviet times, does not frighten Haiken.

---

As said by him, the policy of Washington is aimed at the world domination under a shield of fight with the “axis of evil”. In his speech at the solemn ceremony dedicated to the Day of the Armed Forces and a Defender of the Homeland, Lukashenka said that the presence of foreign army at the territory of the countries-members of the Collective Security Treaty couldn’t but cause concern of Minsk, “Ekho Moskvy” informs.

---

Mass staff redundancies are seemingly underway in the healthcare industry. Only during the last month three Minsk city clinics were deprived of their leaderships. Three weeks ago they fired a head physician of the 1st Minsk hospital Nikolai Andreev. They say that representatives of the Minsk committee for healthcare of the Minsk city hall have numerously called Andreev, urging him to file in resignation out of his own will.

---

The FBI has found a Belarusian trampoline jumper Andrei Lyskavets on the territory of the USA. This information was received by the BelaPAN agency on February 24 on the phone from Salt Lake City from the secretary general of the Belarusian National Olympic committee, chief of the Belarusian mission at the winter Olympic games Anatol Ivanou. “Today a FBI representative has informed me that Lyskavets was found, but has not specified where. We suppose that it could be California, -- the chief of the mission said. – The sportsman said that he stays to work for a couple of months. I asked the FBI agent to give Lyskavets my phone number, as I want to talk to him”. As Ivanou said, he is going to tell Lyskavets about troubles he might see if he stays after March 28 when the term of his Olympic accreditation expires.

---

The Minsk city court finished legal proceedings over the two leaders of the right-wing radical organization “Russian National Unity” (RNU) – Igor Solar and Konstantin Dashkevich, charged with killing a 21-year old Maksim Breiner – another RNU member. Moreover, Dashkevich was also suspected of having committed another murder in 1997 and illicit fire arms deals.

---

The Mogilev town hall refused to allow local workers to hold on February 23 a meeting, a rally and a picket. The workers planned to manifest their protest against the violation of the labor code. The appeal to the town hall was signed by the workers of five town’s plants. The majority of those, who signed it, represent a construction trust #12. The signatories protested against the salary delays, poor working conditions and administration’s failure to fulfill collective agreements. The organizers also demanded to pay out to the Mogilev builders the money, earned in the Moscow oblast.

---

“Informational media holdings will be created in Belarus – this is a way out as the Ministry of Information sees it in the current economical situation for many printed and electronic media”, – said the deputy minister of information Lilia Ananich. Now the question is about creating large informational structures that “should use budget funds more effectively”. Reforming of the process of publishing should be accompanied by merging of some newspapers and magazines. State subsidies for press will be diminished this year and will make 50-60% of the last year’s sum. Thus, the number of newspapers and magazines is to drop considerably this year.

---

Belarusian Embassy in Russia has carried out a consultation on the results of the last year’s work with the heads of the regional divisions of the diplomatic deputation in Ekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Murmansk, Novosibirsk. St. Petersburg, Tumen, Ufa and Khabarovsk.

---