White-red-white flag was hanged by “Zubr” activists on 23 of February in Suharevo residential area in Minsk. The flag was hanged on wire on height of twelve-storied building. Earlier authorities were unable to take away flags that had been hanged in this way for some days and even weeks. Hanging national flags raise people spirit and give them hope and believe in victory over dictatorship.

---

The cutoff of Russian gas supplies allowed by Lukashenka’s government endangered power security of Belarus, told the United Civil Party in its Monday special statement on the gas supplies problems in Belarus. The UCP demands resignation of Lukashenka as the main culprit of the large foreign policy failure.

---

Uladzimier Pleschanka and Alyaksandar Salawyan, the Belarusian Popular Front-Conservative Christian Party members, were detained for unsanctioned picket and for the content of the posters they brought to the Vitsebsk regional executive committee. Pleschanka held an announcement “Collection of signatures against union treaty, illegally signed by Alyaksandar Lukashenka”, and Alyaksandar Salawyan had a placard “By participating in elections you support the present regime”.

---

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has spoken against over-politicizing negotiations on supplies of Russian gas to Belarus. "If someone in Russia wants to over-politicize this issue, let them do it. We view this as a matter [to be resolved by] business companies," Lukashenko said at a working meeting on Monday. The president was informed about a position the government worked out at the meeting concerning imports of all energy resources, primarily natural gas. Lukashenko called for "not yielding to provocation by the opposition, which is trying, as usual, to benefit from the conflict. If they or someone in Moscow want to take advantage of this theme and yell about it - give them the go-ahead. But as soon as it runs counter to our law, we must categorically curb this," the president said.

---

By the middle of March Belarus plans to complete agreement with Gazprom on an independent auditing company to evaluate Beltransgaz price, said Belarusian deputy Economy Minister Aleh Melnikaw, informed Radio Svaboda. It is likely that the evaluator is to be chosen from four world’s largest auditing companies. According to previous information, the evaluation is to take from three to six months and would cost from 50 thousands dollars to 1% of the enterprise’s price.

---

Belarussian air defense units will follow the flight of a NATO AWACS reconnaissance plane that will fly over Latvia and Estonia on February 23-25, a source in the Belarussian Defense Ministry told Interfax on Monday. The source expressed the hope that the plane would not fly too close to the Belarussian border. "The declared mission does not warrant this," he said.

---