The Party of Communists of Belarus (PKB) would never agree to merge with pro-governmental Communist Party, declared in his interview to Interfax the leader of the PKB Syarhei Kaliakin, commenting the statement of president Lukashenka about necessity of the two parties’ “consolidation”. The words about union of the two “completely antagonistic communist parties” in present conditions Kaliakin named a “sheer madness”.

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The State Controlling Committee’s department for financial investigation of the Zavadski District has initiated a criminal action against director of the “Chyzhousky” market in Minsk, as press service of the State Controlling Committee informed The “Sovetskaya Bielorussia”. Director of the market has been selling tobacco products without license for two years. He has received more than 6 million BLR.

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From today Ukraine has imposed a 75-per-cent anti-dumping tariff on Belarusian tar paper imports. A similar sanction was introduced for asphalt and oil asphalt roofing and facing materials. As the Ukrainian interdepartmental commission on international trade informs, these measures were taken to protect national producers. According to a survey by Lutsk paperboard and roofing paper industrial complex, expansion of cheap Belarusian products was a telling blow for the enterprise.

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Poland is set to introduce import restrictions on timber form Russian, Ukraine and Belarus, RIA “Novosti” informs. On July 18 Polish minister of environment Stanislaw Zelichowski, negotiations on this matter with the eastern partners have already started.

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Iraqi delegation headed by the vice prime minister Abdel Tawab Moulla Howeich carried out talks in Minsk with the leadership of Industrial Ministry on the question of bilateral cooperation in the sphere of machinebuilding.

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President Lukashenka thinks that it is a “morbid” tendency when there are two Communist parties in the country. As the press service of the president informs, Lukashenka declared that on Wednesday at a meeting with a group of national assembly MPs – heads of the Communist Partyof Belarus (KPB) Central Committee.

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Hearings of the case at the civil suits of the relatives of Niamiha pedestrian subway throng victims (1999) continued on July 17 in the Moscow District Court of Minsk. On Wednesday hearing of an expert who carried out psychological examination took place in the court. Among the main causes of the accident the expert named an abrupt change of the weather, unorganized crowd and characteristics of the location. On the same day judge Volha Husakova dismissed an appeal of the victims’ relatives to summon to court former Minsk Mayor and former Prime Minister Uladzimer Yarmoshin and some of Minsk executive committee officers and policemen.

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On Wednesday leaders of the three Social democratic parties held a meeting. During consultations arrangements for the general congress were discussed. In the end of August a new United Social Democratic party will emerge. Its creators are the Belarusian Social Democratic Party of Alyaxei Karol, the Belarusian Social Democratic Hramada headed by Stanislau Shushkevich and “Nadzeja” headed by Valiantsina Palevikova.

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