The National Bank of Belarus doesn’t rule out a possibility that the preliminary date of launching the cashless Russian ruble into circulation in Belarus, that is October 1, can be changed.

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There took place the phone conversation between the leader of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and president of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, during which the sides clarified the terms of the upcoming meeting on the top level.

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Since the announcement of the HELP! Action, at a special forum, dedicated to this problem we are being posed all different questions. Today we publish the first part of our answers to them. In future we intend to keep answering them.

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Presidium of the Belarusian government yesterday approved draft presidential decree on opening bank accounts in Belarus in Russian rubles and cancellation of the obligatory sales of Russian currency. Moreover, starting from July 1 next year, according to the document, they will insert payments into the Belarusian budget in Russian rubles. Now the document must be signed into effect by president Alexander Lukashenko. Whether or not this will ever happen, and, if yes, then when, is really hard to say at this stage. They abstained from mentioning the date when it is supposed to come into force.

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US Deputy Permanent Representative with the OSCE Permanent Council Douglas Davidson delivered on September 5, 2003 in Vienna his statement on the persecution of NGOs in Belarus. Following you may read its full transcript.

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Closure of non-governmental organizations for alleged violations of the law is a continuing concern for international observers, said the Head of the OSCE Office in Minsk, Ambassador Eberhard Heyken, today.

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The government of Belarus never received any official information concerning Russia’s unilateral abrogation of the intergovernmental agreement, under which the country used to receive gas at privileged rates. “Our government received no official signals on that. We must be guided by the official decisions only. There is a “union treaty” and we have to comply with it,” – said the chairman of the “house of representatives” of Belarus Vadim Popov in an interview to “Interfax”.

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