Russia cuts electricity supply to Belarus

[Brusik 11]

Is this for real?

"The Belarus will be left without electricity supply from Russian Federation. According to the disseminated information this night at 00:00 the Russian electricity supplier Inter RAO "UES of Russia" will cut off the supply to Belarus, which is caused by the indebtedness of this country before Russian company. The company representatives say the energy holding Belenergo was obliged to pay off according to the contract for electricity supply before June 20, but instead the company sent a letter asking for postponing of the debt to July 5. The reasons for delay were named an economic crisis and currency crisis. Nevertheless this was contrary to the agreement of parties ad the company Belenergo was refused to postpone payment. "

[ONA 133]

No, they postponed the debt.

[1HappyGuy 45]

The most recent thing I could find was that as of last night at midnight, Russia was going to shut off its delivery of electricity to Belarus. But the article also said that only 10% of its electric power comes from Russia. The problem for Belarus is the same as so many other countries, they have no money.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

The most recent thing I could find was that as of last night at midnight, Russia was going to shut off its delivery of electricity to Belarus. But the article also said that only 10% of its electric power comes from Russia. The problem for Belarus is the same as so many other countries, they have no money.

Belarus is coming apart at the seems atm...and good. Lukshenko's house is crumbling around him so to say...yet he's having a new presidential palace being built for him at this moment. The IMF isn't going to bail his ####### out this time, and Russian oligarchs are drooling at the mouth waiting to pick off Belarus industry's one at a time. He's now put the national potash factory on the market for 30 billion dollars...he won't get it, but he's going to have to come down in price eventually. That company is something he said he would never sale off ...that was 5 years ago. Now he can't get rid of it soon enough. He needs the money.

Belarusians are buying staples like flour, sugar, etc... like there's no tomorrow. Foreign currency there has been sold out for weeks now, and the ruble is going for 5,000 to $1 USD. It's pure havoc there. Gas is also at a premium there now, and there are fuel shortages. Belarus is getting what it's old time commie Stalin loving faithful wanted...a Soviet style dictatorship who's time had come to and end decades ago. You reap what you sow, and Lenin and Stalin sowed it well...followed by decades of Russification since then.

[ONA 133]

The most recent thing I could find was that as of last night at midnight, Russia was going to shut off its delivery of electricity to Belarus. But the article also said that only 10% of its electric power comes from Russia. The problem for Belarus is the same as so many other countries, they have no money.

http://telegraf.by/2011/06/russia-delays-electricity-cutoff-for-belarus.html

I'm pretty sure Lukashenko knows where to find the money, but what does he care?

[Sergi9 110]

http://telegraf.by/2011/06/russia-delays-electricity-cutoff-for-belarus.html

I'm pretty sure Lukashenko knows where to find the money, but what does he care?

http://charter97.org/en/news/

As was stated it is getting rough there... protests every week on Wednesdays now, opposition folks disappearing ... food shortage, price escalation on everything.. real nightmare.

Edited June 23, 2011 by Sergi9

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110622/ap_on_re_eu/eu_belarus_kgb_vs_social_media;_ylt=AtkZC0ew0OgHqz46EdE9s5t0bBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTM1OXNvYWNhBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwNjIyL2V1X2JlbGFydXNfa2diX3ZzX3NvY2lhbF9tZWRpYQRwb3MDMjYEc2VjA3luX3BhZ2luYXRlX3N1bW1hcnlfbGlzdARzbGsDa2dicG9saWNlaW5i

KGB, police in Belarus try to prevent youth rally

By YURAS KARMANAU, Associated Press – Wed Jun 22, 3:54 pm ET

MINSK, Belarus – Online, they call for changes in their authoritarian nation of Belarus. Offline, in front of riot police and sympathetic passers-by, they simply clap their hands and stomp their feet.

For a third Wednesday in a row, thousands of young social media activists chose the offline approach by holding banned rallies in cities and towns across their ex-Soviet country.

Two previous rallies have been banned and dispersed, and many activists were interrogated ahead of the third one held in Minsk, the capital, and other locations, said the respected human rights group Vyasna. Agents of KGB, as Belarus' security agency is still known, detained hundreds of others during the protests, even though the youths did not shout protest slogans or display any banners.

Belarus is undergoing a severe economic crisis, and longtime President Alexander Lukashenko has overseen a sweeping crackdown on opposition and government critics. Authorities routinely block opposition websites using web-filters similar to those used in China. Pro-democracy activists such as those protesting Wednesday routinely use Facebook, Twitter and other social networking websites to support one another and their cause.

Sergei Pavliukevich, an activist whose postings have been followed by hundreds of thousands of Internet users, said he was briefly arrested by KGB agents Monday and released only after disclosing his passwords to social media websites.

He said police removed his postings calling for protests against Lukashenko's policies, but he remains optimistic about the success such demonstrations can have, both online and offline.

"With the Internet, even these dictatorial authorities have a hard time shutting our mouths," Pavliukevich said in a telephone interview.

The government had warned that Wednesday's rallies were banned. Police also cordoned off streets in Minsk and shut down public transportation. But hundreds of youngsters gathered in small groups in the center of the city, some arriving on bicycles.

"I'm tired of fear," said Anton Volodkevich, a 19-year-old student with dreadlocks. "Even in a closed society one has to find a way to protest. We do it by clapping and stomping."

Minutes later, riot police started forcing him and others out of the street or throwing them into police vans.

Independent online media and bloggers in Belarus said that Wednesday's silent rallies took place in about 30 cities and towns across the nation of 10 million people.

For most of his 17 years in power, Lukashenko has relied on Russia — Belarus' main sponsor and ally — to maintain a quasi-Soviet economy complete with a social safety net that helped maintain his popularity.

But the Russian subsidies have dwindled recently as Moscow pushes for control over Belarus assets such as oil refineries and chemical plants in exchange for more loans. Many people have compared the crisis in Belarus with the economic shock that followed the 1991 Soviet collapse.

In December, Lukashenko won Belarus' presidential election amid widespread accusations of fraud. Mass protest rallies followed in Minsk, and more than 700 people were arrested, including seven presidential candidates. Three of them have been sentenced to jail, one got a suspended sentence and one escaped the country.

At least 30 opposition activists have been imprisoned, while dozens of others await trial.

[Sergi9 110]

http://charter97.org/en/news/

As was stated it is getting rough there... protests every week on Wednesdays now, opposition folks disappearing ... food shortage, price escalation on everything.. real nightmare.

Frightend dictator promises to BASH

Edited June 23, 2011 by Sergi9

[TBoneTX 45,288]

Cutting the power? How de-lightful, si man.

[Brusik 11]

Pulling the Plug on Lukashenko

WASHINGTON, DC - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is a master of political survival. But, following a recent 64% devaluation of the currency, the clock appears to be running out on his prolonged misrule. Lukashenko was forced by the removal of Russian oil-price subsidies in 2009 to beg, borrow, or steal enough funds to keep Belarus's economy from collapsing. He tricked the International Monetary Fund into extending a $3.4 billion loan, promising freer elections in December 2010 - only to burn that bridge with a brutal crackdown when faced with an adverse election result and the largest protests his regime had ever seen.

Now Russia has taken a harder line, demanding a high price for loans that are, in any case, insufficient to save the regime. As a result, the Belarusian economy is in free-fall, and Lukashenko's days appear to be numbered.

Lukashenko used the IMF money to keep his state-dominated, inefficient, and subsidy-dependent economy afloat through the 2010 elections. But, shortly after the vote, signs of trouble became visible. During a visit I made to Belarus in January, officials refused to forecast GDP growth in 2011, except to say that it would be lower. At a time when most of Europe was starting to recover from the 2008-09 recession, Belarus was going in the opposite direction.

Mitchell A. Orenstein is Professor of European Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced and International Studies in Washington, DC.

Then, crisis erupted in May, when the country ran low on foreign-currency reserves and traders could not purchase the dollars they needed. The currency, which traded at 3,000 rubles to the dollar in January, collapsed to 8,000-9,000 in mid-May, and the government was forced to devalue the official rate from 3,010 to 4,950, while continuing to restrict banks' ability to buy foreign currency.

As inflation skyrocketed, Belarusians bought anything of value that they could, from food to used cars. Belarus, which had been known (and praised by some) as a socialist haven in Europe, with a relatively generous welfare state and decent, if low, wages, suddenly has become an economic basket case. The public is reaching a breaking point. On June 7, a hundred cars blocked roads in central Minsk to protest a 30% increase in fuel prices - a daring act in Europe's most formidable police state.

The swiftness of Belarus's economic meltdown reflects the directness of its cause: Russia had been financing Lukashenko's shabby paradise, and then it decided to stop paying. Without enough dollars flowing in from transit fees for Russia's oil and gas exports to Western Europe, the country was bankrupt.

Russia had simply seized the opportunity presented to it by Lukashenko's bizarre post-election crackdown, in which he used disproportionate force to clear the streets and imprisoned hundreds of activists, including seven of the presidential candidates who had run against him. Presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov was recently sentenced to five years in prison for taking part in election-night protests.

The outcry from a betrayed West was loud and visceral. Lukashenko had lured the IMF and the European Union into providing support for his economy during the global financial crisis. The presidents of Italy and Lithuania had made high-profile visits prior to the elections as part of a policy of "engagement." The foreign ministers of Poland, Germany, and Sweden traveled to Minsk during the fall of 2010 to meet with Lukashenko, civil-society groups, and opposition leaders. At the end of this trip, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announced the possibility of a $4 billion EU aid package should Belarus hold a free and fair election.

When these hopes were dashed, the West reacted with stunned disbelief and anger, reinstating sanctions on 156 top Belarusian officials and members of Lukashenko's family. The EU has since imposed additional sanctions on judges and other officials involved in punishing protestors, bringing the number of sanctioned individuals to 190.

More importantly, Lukashenko's break with the West left him at the mercy of Russia - and the Russians, sensing his weakness, decided to bargain hard. They threatened to renege on their own generous pre-election promises of aid unless Belarus surrendered stakes in the country's most lucrative companies, including Beltransgaz, the gas-pipeline network, and Belaruskali, the potash miner, among others.

This has put Lukashenko squarely on the horns of a dilemma. He needs Russia's money, but his domestic support is based on defending Belarus's fragile sovereignty. Some would regard the sale of the economy's "crown jewels" as tantamount to national betrayal, possibly a capital crime. A bombing in the Minsk metro in April that killed 14 and injured hundreds may have been a grim foretaste of the political risks involved.

Negotiations with Russia dragged on, and the country ran out of money. Now Russia says that it will provide money in the form of loans, promising annual tranches of around $1 billion - but only if Belarus makes sufficient concessions. And, in early June, Lukashenko signed a deal: Belaruskali is the first enterprise on the table, in exchange for an $800 million loan.

Lukashenko's only alternative to losing sovereignty to Russia, and thus risking the wrath of his nationalist base, is to go begging to the IMF. In that case, he would face "shock globalization" and political death through free and fair elections - that is, unless the IMF goes soft and shovels more money at him (a deal worth $3.5-8 billion is being sought), possibly in exchange for the release of political prisoners.

The IMF should not be in the ransom business. The West should send the same message to Lukasenko that it has sent to Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: No IMF money to prolong the life of the regime. No loans for prisoners. It is time for Lukashenko to go.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Pulling the Plug on Lukashenko

WASHINGTON, DC - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is a master of political survival. But, following a recent 64% devaluation of the currency, the clock appears to be running out on his prolonged misrule. Lukashenko was forced by the removal of Russian oil-price subsidies in 2009 to beg, borrow, or steal enough funds to keep Belarus's economy from collapsing. He tricked the International Monetary Fund into extending a $3.4 billion loan, promising freer elections in December 2010 - only to burn that bridge with a brutal crackdown when faced with an adverse election result and the largest protests his regime had ever seen.

Now Russia has taken a harder line, demanding a high price for loans that are, in any case, insufficient to save the regime. As a result, the Belarusian economy is in free-fall, and Lukashenko's days appear to be numbered.

The swiftness of Belarus's economic meltdown reflects the directness of its cause: Russia had been financing Lukashenko's shabby paradise, and then it decided to stop paying. Without enough dollars flowing in from transit fees for Russia's oil and gas exports to Western Europe, the country was bankrupt.

Russia had simply seized the opportunity presented to it by Lukashenko's bizarre post-election crackdown, in which he used disproportionate force to clear the streets and imprisoned hundreds of activists, including seven of the presidential candidates who had run against him. Presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov was recently sentenced to five years in prison for taking part in election-night protests.

The outcry from a betrayed West was loud and visceral. Lukashenko had lured the IMF and the European Union into providing support for his economy during the global financial crisis. The presidents of Italy and Lithuania had made high-profile visits prior to the elections as part of a policy of "engagement." The foreign ministers of Poland, Germany, and Sweden traveled to Minsk during the fall of 2010 to meet with Lukashenko, civil-society groups, and opposition leaders. At the end of this trip, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announced the possibility of a $4 billion EU aid package should Belarus hold a free and fair election.

When these hopes were dashed, the West reacted with stunned disbelief and anger, reinstating sanctions on 156 top Belarusian officials and members of Lukashenko's family. The EU has since imposed additional sanctions on judges and other officials involved in punishing protestors, bringing the number of sanctioned individuals to 190.

More importantly, Lukashenko's break with the West left him at the mercy of Russia - and the Russians, sensing his weakness, decided to bargain hard. They threatened to renege on their own generous pre-election promises of aid unless Belarus surrendered stakes in the country's most lucrative companies, including Beltransgaz, the gas-pipeline network, and Belaruskali, the potash miner, among others.

This has put Lukashenko squarely on the horns of a dilemma. He needs Russia's money, but his domestic support is based on defending Belarus's fragile sovereignty. Some would regard the sale of the economy's "crown jewels" as tantamount to national betrayal, possibly a capital crime. A bombing in the Minsk metro in April that killed 14 and injured hundreds may have been a grim foretaste of the political risks involved.

Negotiations with Russia dragged on, and the country ran out of money. Now Russia says that it will provide money in the form of loans, promising annual tranches of around $1 billion - but only if Belarus makes sufficient concessions. And, in early June, Lukashenko signed a deal: Belaruskali is the first enterprise on the table, in exchange for an $800 million loan.

Lukashenko's only alternative to losing sovereignty to Russia, and thus risking the wrath of his nationalist base, is to go begging to the IMF. In that case, he would face "shock globalization" and political death through free and fair elections - that is, unless the IMF goes soft and shovels more money at him (a deal worth $3.5-8 billion is being sought), possibly in exchange for the release of political prisoners.

Some untruths in this article is the fact the West was surprised that Lukashenko didn't hold fair elections. They knew he had no plans of that.

Luka's days with Russia are numbered for one simple fact... Nordstream Pipeline. It's a project that's already started and it bypasses Belarus. It goes from the North Sea straight into Germany. When it's completed, Belarus will no longer be a gas transit country to Europe (West). The gas pipeline running through Belarus from Russia was Luka's one bargaining chip and now he's lost it. He shut that pipleline down twice in the past to negotiate (extortion) a better deal with Russia.

Russia has him between a rock and a hard spot and they are going to pick off Belarus industry's like vultures after a fresh kill if something isn't done quick. Tsar Putin and his KGB/FSB mafioso crony's want Belarus so bad they can taste it. This is his only chance to finally get his grips on Belarus and bring it under Kremlin control, thus finalizing the Russification of Belarus with said country's loss of sovereignty. Russia in it's eyes can't afford a democratic government in Belarus for the simple fact any democratic government that takes over in Belarus is sure to be pro EU. Tsar Putin knows this so he's playing his hand while the time is ripe.

A major thing that hurt this whole democratic movement was the failure in Ukraine to clean up corruption after the Orange Revolution. If things had gone down better there the older Belarusians might have been more vocal in that regard to any democratic movement in Belarus. They saw what was happening in Ukraine and it turned them off big time.

It's going to come down to Lukashenko either sells off Belarus industry to Russia one piece at a time, he hands over Belarus to Tsar Putin as in Belarus loses it's independence as a sovereign nation, or he steps down and let's democratic reform take place.

Edited June 23, 2011 by Why_Me

[Brusik 11]

Some untruths in this article is the fact the West was surprised that Lukashenko didn't hold fair elections. They knew he had no plans of that.

Luka's days with Russia are numbered for one simple fact... Nordstream Pipeline. It's a project that's already started and it bypasses Belarus. It goes from the North Sea straight into Germany. When it's completed, Belarus will no longer be a gas transit country to Europe (West). The gas pipeline running through Belarus from Russia was Luka's one bargaining chip and now he's lost it. He shut that pipleline down twice in the past to negotiate (extortion) a better deal with Russia.

Russia has him between a rock and a hard spot and they are going to pick off Belarus industry's like vultures after a fresh kill if something isn't done quick. Tsar Putin and his KGB/FSB mafioso crony's want Belarus so bad they can taste it. This is his only chance to finally get his grips on Belarus and bring it under Kremlin control, thus finalizing the Russification of Belarus with said country's loss of sovereignty. Russia in it's eyes can't afford a democratic government in Belarus for the simple fact any democratic government that takes over in Belarus is sure to be pro EU. Tsar Putin knows this so he's playing his hand while the time is ripe.

A major thing that hurt this whole democratic movement was the failure in Ukraine to clean up corruption after the Orange Revolution. If things had gone down better there the older Belarusians might have been more vocal in that regard to any democratic movement in Belarus. They saw what was happening in Ukraine and it turned them off big time.

It's going to come down to Lukashenko either sells off Belarus industry to Russia one piece at a time, he hands over Belarus to Tsar Putin as in Belarus loses it's independence as a sovereign nation, or he steps down and let's democratic reform take place.

This is why Putin has problems with Georgia.. They soon will be in Nato and the EU.. He refuses to honor the agreement he made after the 5 day war.. His troop numbers are still tripled in Abkazia and Ossetia.. He still promotes terrorists acts against Georgia even though he denies this. he still has his Georgian old time mafia leaders behind the unrest to oust Saakashvilli.. What Georgia has going for itself is many young people run the country.. They have youth involved in the political system...

[ONA 133]

This is why Putin has problems with Georgia.. They soon will be in Nato and the EU.. He refuses to honor the agreement he made after the 5 day war.. His troop numbers are still tripled in Abkazia and Ossetia..

Abkhazia and South Ossetia don't want to be parts of Georgia since 1992 and it has nothing to do with Putin What happened in 2008 has by far more serious cause than most American people might think.

It's weird though, why the same people, who say that Chechnya should be independent are against independent Abkhazia and South Ossetia.