CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
January, 28, 2003
http://charter97.org/eng/news/
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"GAZPROM" OFFERED LUKASHENKA CREDIT AS ULTIMATUM
16:22 28/01/2004

Bilateral Russian-Belarusian talks on gas supplies in 2004 failed one more time
yesterday. Head of the board of directors OAO "Gazprom" Aleksey Miller and OAO
"Beltransgaz" general executive Petr Petuh stayed on their previous positions
with an agreement to meet in a couple of days. Most likely, "Beltransgaz" needs
a pause for negotiations with President Lukashenka. 
In the last four days there were two telephone talks between President Vladimir
Putin and his Belarusian colleague. However, Minsk did not leave his claims for
reduced prices for gas, but did not agree on "Gazprom's" offer to buy "Beltransgaz".

http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2004/01/28/gasprom

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4 KILLED IN BELARUS SCHOOL ROOF COLLAPSE
16:20 28/01/2004, Associated Press

The roof of a school gymnasium in Belarus collapsed Tuesday, killing three students
and a teacher, officials said. Eleven students were injured. The roof gave way
during a physical education class in the three-story middle school in the village
of Krasnopolye, 185 miles southeast of Minsk, officials at the Emergency Situations
Ministry said. 
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2004/01/28/school

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"NARODNAYA VOLYA" IS A SUBJECT TO A 100 MILLION FINE
16:16 28/01/2004

As the editors' office of the independent Belarusian newspaper "Narodnaya Volya"
found out, on January 15 two suits were submitted to Leninsky court of Minsk
from OAO "Alliance-media", the founder of the newspaper "The Observer", and Sergey
Atroschenko, the editor-in-chief. Each suit asks for the penalty of 50 million
rubles, as the Belarusian Association of Journalists reports. The reason for
the suits is two articles published in the newspaper. 
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2004/01/28/nv

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"THE MPS" NOT LET IN PACE
16:26 28/01/2004

On January 27 the Legal Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe confirmed Christos Pourgourides' report on the missing people in Belarus.
The proposal not to admit the Belarusian "MPs" to the PACE sessions was also
supported, as Radio Freedom reports. 
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2004/01/28/pace

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RELIGIOUS SITUATION IN BELARUS WORSENING
16:24 28/01/2004

The civil initiative "For the Freedom of Worship" carried out a monitoring of
the situation after the new law on religion has been passed. According to the
results, the authors of the periodical "white book" came to the conclusion that
the Belarusian authorities use religion in pursuing their political goals. 
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2004/01/28/sit

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AVERAGE SALARY IS $115
16:20 28/01/2004

It is easy to get lost in "the average data". For instance, from October to November
the average salary seems to be increasing, but not substantially. But in December
the data rises substantially. "It can be easily explained: by the end of the
year all the enterprises try to manage the debts, payments are made more actively
and the average salary rises distinctly. Something like that is observed during
holiday time,"-as they explained at the Ministry of Statistics. According to
the data, in comparison to November 2003 in December we got by 25,000 rubles
more, specifically 300, 000. If in January the enterprises will pay salaries
by the principle: in a new year without debts and new debts in a new year, it
might be that "the average income" will decrease again in January 2004. The average
yearly salary is a more trustworthy data. For 2003 it made up 254,000 or $115,
as "Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus" writes. 
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2004/01/28/115

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CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
December, 28, 2003
http://charter97.org/eng/news/