State companies and organizations accounted for 75.8 percent of all tax arrears in Minsk in the first seven months of this year, said the tax ministry on Wednesday, BelaPAN reported.

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On 30 August in the center of Homel the police in mufti detained four youth activists: Siarhei Astafonau, Vital Birukou, Andrei Tsianiuta and Zmitser Zhaleznichenka. The detainees were told that they were suspected in robbery. All of them were taken to Tsentralny district police department of Homel for ‘identification’.

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The founders of the human rights public association ‘Viasna’ have finally received an official letter of the Ministry of Justice ‘On refusal of state registration for the public association’. There are several reasons that have been invented by the officials for the refusal.

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Syria is a key partner for Belarus in the Middle East, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said today as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Syrian Arab Republic to Belarus Faruk Takh.

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A representative delegation of heads of city administrations of Vietnam will visit Minsk in mid-September. The foreign guests are intent on getting familiar with the work of their Belarusian colleagues in Minsk, Brest and Grodno. President of the Belarus-Vietnam Society Alexander Potantsev told BelTA, the visit will be held as part of the Vietnam Days in Belarus. The presentation of the event took place at Minsk’s Friendship House on August 30.

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Economy Minister of Belarus Mikalai Zaichanka predicts the Belarusian positive payment balance of USD350 million in 2008 with the envisaged 1.4 billion deficit of international trade. ”The payment balance in 2008 is expected to be established with USD 350 million proficit”, Mikalai Zaichanka declared at the sitting of the Council of Ministers when the draft forecast of socio-economic development of Belarus for 2008 was considered. It was Stanislau Bagdankevich, former chairman of the National bank of Belarus, who agreed to comment on the forecasted indicators to the Charter’97.

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Despite of nuclear weapons withdrawal from its territory Belarus constantly feels pressure exerted at it, declared chairman of the commission on international affairs and national security of the “council of the republic” of the “national assembly” Mikalai Cherginets .

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Price rise for Russian energy carriers may cause slowing down of the Belarusian economic growth by 10-15 % of the GDP in total over the period up to 2012. According to the ITAR-TASS press agency such estimation is given in the press release of the IMF on a regular survey of the Belarusian economy.

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