On January 11 overnight reporter of the Belarusian Business Newspaper in Homiel region Iryna Makovetskaya received an anonymous phone warning. An unknown man has been calling her several times within an hour and demanded her to stop her journalistic activities, otherwise threatening to “bury” her. The journalist managed to tape one of the calls. On January 11 she addressed a police with an appeal to disclose the unknown.

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Edited by Victor Cole
Vol. 7, No. 2
January 2004

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On the eve of the tenth anniversary of American President Bill Clinton’s visit to Belarus unknown criminals have destroyed the memorial sigh – the gift of the American people to the Belarusians.

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The majority of deputies of the chamber of representatives will participate in the next elections in autumn this year, considers the secretary of the Central election Committee Mikalay Lazavik.

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On January 9 he daily “Salidarnasts” issuing was resumed. Its founder is the Belarusian Independent Trade Union. On December 17 Minsk an enterprise “Svetach” which printed the newspaper, informed the editors that it couldn’t continue to carry out its commitments because of overloaded facilities. As was said to the BelaPAN agency by newspaper’s editor-in-chief Alyaksandar Starykevich, at present it is printed at Smolensk printing plant (Russia).

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Prime Minister of Belarus Sergey Sidorski has confirmed the intention of the Belarusian government to pay off the $129-million debt to OJSC Gazprom. The confirmation was pronounced during Sidorski`s working visit to Gomel.

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Acute respiratory viral infection and pneumonia caused deaths of two children and an aged man in the Belarusian capital Minsk.

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Today talks on cooperation in the sphere of gas between Mikhail Kasyanov and Belarusian prime minister Syarhei Sidorski are to take place. Moscow and Minsk have not settled the matter of gas supply by Gazprom this year, and since beginning of January Russian monopolist has not sold a single cubic meter to Belarus. In January gas demand sof Belarus are satisfied with difficulty due to suppliers independent from Gazprom (Transnafta is to supply 1.2 billions cubic m of gas, Itera – 800 millions cubic m), however in the future Minsk would be unable to buy gas from them because of high price. The Belarusian government has two and a half weeks left to settle the split with Gazprom, which presses for establishment of a joint venture with Beltransgaz on ‘sane’ conditions, as the representatives of the Russian monopolist say.

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