During his visit to Minsk on April 29 the leader of the faction “Union of the Right Forces” in the Russian State Duma, Boris Nemtsov, met the relatives of the repressed Belarusian politicians. At the meeting the mother of the abducted journalist Zmitser Zavadsky, Volga Zavadskaya, the wives of the disappeared Viktar Hanchar and Anatol Krasousky, the wife of the ex-prime minister of Belarus Yulia Chyhir, as well as the released from jail Andrei Klimau, former deputy of the Supreme Soviet, were present.

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Alexander Lukashenko dismissed the Minister of healthcare Vladislav Ostapenko. In course of today’s government’s session the head of state demanded that the Minister “leave the room”. The resignation followed after the incumbent inquired from the ex-Minister “How many private structures were evicted from the hospitals and policlinics?”. The Minister couldn’t give any satisfactory answer, reports Interfax. As we said before, during the recent months Lukashenko entitled the Committee for state control to thoroughly examine the Belarusian healthcare system, which resulted in a series of loud dismissals and institution of legal action against medics.

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60 employees of the Grodno-based “Medic” enterprise are planning to launch a sedentary strike opposite the company’s central headquarters. The workers are utterly displeased with the fact that they had seen no salary payments this year. In January-February 2002 they only received a so-called “minimal consumer’s allowance”, which is three times less in size than the regular salary. 60 staffers filed in resignations from the chronic salary underpayments, www.praca.by was told by the company’s chief engineer Mikhail Bondarovich.

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Farmers of the state husbandry “Dribinsky” of the Mogilev region decided to hold on April 30 a one-hour long strike in front of the local district committee. The workers demand salary payments for their labor for February and March.

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During the period from April 28 to May 2, 2002 Belarus will welcome on her territory the delegation of the Kuwait fund of the Arab economic development. The delegation will be composed of the deputy director general of the fund Abdullah ab Al-Bader and regional manager for Central Asia and Europe Valid Al Bakhar. The main goal of their coming is to sign the loan agreement with the Republic of Belarus on the reconstruction of the Svetlogorsk-based “Himvolokno” plant.

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The joint stock transformation process won’t start so far at the Polotsk-based industrial enterprise “Steklovolokno”. The thing will get started some time in the future, said in an interview to the press the president of the “Belneftehim” concern Ivan Bambiza. BelaPAN quotes him as saying that it is simply impossible to get all the country’s oil chemistry enterprises involved in the process. Moreover, says Bambiza, prior to the privatization the companies got to work with the investors first. “There are no investors at the “Steklovolokno” and so we will take our time,” – said Bambiza. Meantime, he underlined that his concern will step up the necessary measures should the company’s personnel require privatization.

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Mogilev plant “BelAZ” will act as a co-founder of the first joint venture in Kusbass coal mine. The Kemerovo region of Russia will be represented by the coal mine “Zadubrovsky”. Yesterday the Kemerovo side forwarded to the Moscow representation of the Union state the draft statutory projects for the creation of the Russia-Belarus coal mine in the Belovsky district. As we know, in early May Alexander Lukashenko will pass the final decision on the project’s fulfillment.

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One of the April 19 Protest March’s organizers, journalist and painter Nikolai Khalezin cannot serve his 15-days arrest due to the rapidly deteriorating health condition. Yesterday night he suddenly felt bad – he was suffocating and couldn’t fall asleep. When he asked the guards to let him breathe some fresh air in the outside yard, the guards said no. Soon, they had to call for an ambulance and the journalist was driven away to one of the hospitals. After additional medical examination the physicians recommended him to pass through serious medical treatment. The police authorities consented to the doctors’ demands and brought Khalezin home to recover from illness there.

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The problem of the shadow budget was first raised in the country in 1995-1996. The “Civil action” faction in the 13th Supreme Soviet forced the procuracy to hold investigation into the activities of the “Torgexpo” and the Esembaev’s fund. There emerged some remarkable facts. By his order the head of state set up a structure, which didn’t pay taxes, directing all the earned money into the so-called presidential fund. Taking into consideration the fact that “Torgexpo” once encompassed almost 25% of all country’s foreign trade, one can imagine how many hundreds of millions of dollars didn’t get into the state budget.

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Famous Belarusian filmmaker Yuri Khaschevatsky is due to be set free today from the Okrestina detention center. Ten days, to which the man was sentenced for organizing the Protest March “CAN’T LIVE LIKE THAT!” in Minsk, expire on April 29 at 6p.m. Yuri’s relatives, friends and colleagues will meet him at the prison gates, as well as those who simply want to share their solidarity with the courageous man. As you already know, three more PM organizers – Dmitry Bondarenko, Nikolai Khalezin and Valery Schukin are still serving their 15-days terms.

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The Union of the Right Forces’ delegation headed by the chair of the political council of the party, leader of the URF faction in the Russian State Duma Boris Nemtsov, is to visit Minsk with a one-day visit on April 29. The delegation includes also the chairman of the executive committee of the URF Eldar Yanbukhtin, and a group of the State Duma MPs of the URF faction. The program of the visit includes meeting with the leadership of the United Civil Party, wives of the abducted and repressed politicians.

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On April 23 “Gazprom” joint stock company sent a telegram to the prime minister of Belarus Henadz Navitsky., warning that from May 1 the company will have to cut down the delivery of gas by 25-30%.

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On Friday, visiting the regions suffered from the Charnobyl dsaster, Alyaksandr Lukashenka has made a sensational statement that he is quite willing to buy Ignalina atomic station from the Lithuanians.

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Alyaksandr Lukashenka ordered to “thoroughly consider if the financing of this or that Charnobyl program in the present volumes is expedient”. He said that during his visit to the Homel region, which was affected the most by the Charnobyl atomic station disaster. As said by the Belarusian leader, as the agency “Rosbalt” informs, the social support to the dwellers of the contaminated areas and financing of sending people abroad for health improving programs are to be reconsidered. The Committee of State Control is ordered to check the activities of “all institutions connected with the Charnobyl problem”.

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In Moscow in a car crash a film director Mikhail Ptashuk has perished. Mikhail Ptashuk (born in 1943) is a Belarusian film director, Honored Master of arts of the BSSR (1982). He is famous for his films: “I’ll Take Your Pain” (1980), “Adversity Sign” (1986). “Our Armored Train” (1989), “Cooperative Politburo” (1992), “In August, 1944” (2000).

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Over the first quarter of 2002 the remnants of the ready industrial products at the Belarusian storehouses rose from 750bln rubles in price to 1trln48bln, said the Vice-Premier of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov. In his opinion, quotes BelaPAN, the increase in the competitiveness level of our products is the chief problem, faced by the industrial and agricultural companies. Kobyakov says that over the first quarter of 2002 the profitability of the Belarusian industry amounted to 6%. “That’s very little. But it is real. This is the profitability level, which we indeed have. It’s not inflated or something,” – underscored the Vice-Premier.

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The US Committee for trade in nitrogen mixture submitted to the US Ministry of trade a request to tax the imported mineral fertilizers from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. Within 20 days after the submission of plea the US Ministry of trade has to determine whether or not it should embark on the innovation. In the event of the positive decision the anti-dumping procedure will be heard on May 9.

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