The Belarusian president, utterly offended by Vladimir Putin’s recent statements on the possible amalgamation principles, set his mind to escalate the conflict. Vladimir Putin pointed “Lukashenko’s Belarus at its real place” and Lukashenko retaliated him back. However, the methods, picked by the Belarusian side, seem but a primitive blackmail.

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Gennady Zouganov claimed readiness to act as an intermediary in forthcoming negotiations between the president of Russia Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko. The red leader pinpointed that in the July 29 interview to the radio “Echo of Moscow”. In his opinion, “there’s no other way out of deadlock, except integrating with Belarus and Ukraine”. Gennady Zouganov also shared his discontent over Vladimir Putin’s position, that the unification issues have to be settled gradually without much haste. According to the communist leader, the questions, to which there’s no consensus, must not become a matter of public deliberations.

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Entrepreneurs of Minsk, Grodno, Vitebsk, Mogilev, Gomel, Brest, Orsha, Bobruisk, Volkovysk and Baranovichi uphold tomorrow’s warning strike of all Belarusian entrepreneurs, reports BelaPAN. On July 22 chair of the striking committee Valery Levonevsky forwarded his notification message to the presidential Administration, Prime-Minister, the department for entrepreneurship and investments of the Ministry of economy, as well as to the Ministry of taxation. The main reason for the action of protest is the planned amendments to the presidential decree #12 of May 17, 2001. The strikers believe that in case the project gets approved, the businessmen will be placed in unbearable economic conditions.

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Co-chairman of the “Private Initiative”, businessman Leonid Malakhov was sentenced on July 29 by the judge of the Sovietsky district court of Minsk Natalya Skugarova to 10 days of administrative arrest. Malakhov was the initiator of the entrepreneurs’ protest, held yesterday opposite the “Parking” fair. The man was indicted under art.167/2 of the administrative code for organizing and active participation in an unsanctioned picketing. They put him under lock in the Okrestina str. jail.

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The Leninsky district court of Minsk opened court hearings against the newspaper “Narodnaya Volya”, whose initiators were two Zhodino residents. Judges of the Zhodino court Alina Klus and Larisa Frolenko demand refutation of facts, laid out in the article “Lawlessness” and moral compensation of 2,5mln rubles each from the newspaper and 1mln from the author of the article, lawyer Vladimir Ivanov. Judge Ludmila Grachova, in charge of the process, declined to cancel arrest of the “Narodnaya Volya’s” bank account, which had been placed more than a month ago.

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On July 30 Alexander Lukashenko will listen to the report of the Cabinet of Ministers on the country’s social-economic development for the first half year of 2002. This time the session will commence on 5p.m. According to Lukashenko’s press-service, this is caused by the fact that “the government must use their labor day most effectively in order to swiftly solve the harvesting problems.” The president’s treatment of the officials will be a harsh one; over the first six months of the year the country saw a rise in the number of unprofitable companies, while the Belarusian goods lost their attractiveness and competitiveness at both the inside and outside markets. They likewise failed seven parameters of the social-economic development.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin appointed new ambassador in Belarus – former head of the Ministry of federation affairs Alexander Blokhin. The text of the order was signed on July 26. The former Minister replaced at the post Vyacheslav Dolgov.

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Legalization of the Russian court’s decision concerning “Bakltika’s” lawsuit to “Krynitsa” brewery will take place July 30 in Minsk. ABN reports from the “Baltika’s” press-service, that the decision of the international commercial arbitrage court of the Trade Palace of Russia, which satisfied “Baltika’s” lawsuit to “Krynitsa”, will be put in conformity with the Belarusian legislation.

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