head of government: Prime Minister Mikhail CHIGIR (since NA July
1994) was appointed by the president; Deputy Prime Ministers
Vladimir GARKUN (since NA), Sergey LING (since NA), Leonid SINITSYN
(since NA), Valeriy KOKAREV (since NA), Vladimir RUSAKEVICH (since
NA)
cabinet: Council of Ministers
note: first presidential elections took place in June-July 1994
Legislative branch: unicameral
Supreme Soviet: elections last held May, Nov-Dec 1995 (two rounds,
each with a run-off; next to be held NA 2000); results - percent of
vote by party NA; seats - (260 total) KPB 42, Agrarian 33, CAB 9,
Party of People's Concord 8, UPNAZ 2, SDPB 2, BPR 1, Green Party 1,
Republican Party of Labor and Justice 1, BSP 1, NFB 1, Social and
Sports Party 1, Ecological Party 1, independents 95, vacant 62
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the
president; Constitutional Court
Political parties and leaders: Belarusian Communist Party (KPB),
Vasiliy NOVIKOV, Viktor CHIKIN, chairmen; Agrarian Party, Semen
SHARETSKIY; Civic Accord Bloc (CAB); Party of People's Concord,
Gennadiy KARPENKO; Party of All-Belarusian Unity and Concord
(UPNAZ), Dmitriy BULAKOV; Belarusian Social-Democrat Hramada (SDBP),
Alex TRUSOV; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (BPR), Anatol
BARANKEVICH; Green Party of Belarus, Mikalay KARTASH; Republican
Party of Labor and Justice, Anatol NETSILKIN; Belarus Peasants
(BSP), Yevgeniy LUGIN, chairman; Belarusian Popular Front (NFB),
Zenon POZNYAK, chairman; Belarusian Social Sports Party, Vladimir
ALEKSANDROVICH; Ecological Party, Aleksiy MIKULICH; National
Democratic Party of Belarus (NDPB), Victor NAVUMENKA; United
Democratic Party of Belarus (ADPB), Aleksandr DOBROVOLSKIY;
Belarusian Socialist Party (SPB), Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV; Slavic
Assembly (SAB), Nikolai SYARECHEV; Liberal-Democratic Party (LDPB),
Vasil KRIVENKA; Belarusian Christian-Democratic Unity (BKDZ), Petr
SILKO; Polish Democratic Union (PDZ), Konstantin TARASEVICH; Party
of Beer Lovers, Yuriy GONCHAR; Belarusian Labor Party (BPP),
Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV
International organization participation: CCC, CE (guest), CIS, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NACC, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (applicant)
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Sergey Nikolayevich MARTYNOV
chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 986–1604
FAX: [1] (202) 986–1805
consulate(s) general: New York
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Kenneth Spencer YALOWITZ
embassy: Starovilenskaya #46–220002, Minsk
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [375] (172) 31–50-00
FAX: [375] (172) 34–78-53
Flag: red horizontal band (top) and green horizontal band one-half the width of the red band; a white vertical stripe of white on the hoist side bears in red the Belarusian national ornament
Economy———
Economic overview: At the time of independence in late 1991, Belarus was one of the most developed of the former Soviet states, inheriting a modern - by Soviet standards - machine building sector and robust agricultural sector. However, the breakup of the Soviet Union and its traditional trade ties, as well as the government's failure to embrace market reforms, has resulted in a sharp economic decline. Privatization is virtually nonexistent and the system of state orders and distribution persists. Although President LUKASHENKO pronounces his 1995 macro stabilization policies a success - annual inflation dropped from 2,220% in 1994 to 244% in 1995 - the IMF has criticized his insistence on maintaining the steady exchange rate for Belarusian rubel, which has traded at 11,500 to the dollar since late 1994. The IMF suspended Minsk's $300 million standby program in November 1995 until the government would agree to a devaluation of the rubel. The overvalued rubel has especially hurt Belarusian exporters, most of which now operate at a loss. In addition, the January 1995 Customs Union agreement with Russia - which required Minsk to adjust its foreign trade practices to mirror Moscow's - has resulted in higher import tariffs for Belarusian consumers; tariffs have risen from 5%-20% to 20%-40%.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $49.2 billion (1995 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1994)
GDP real growth rate: −10% (1995 est.)
GDP per capita: $4,700 (1995 est.)
GDP composition by sector: agriculture: 21% industry: 49% services: 30% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 244% (1995 est.)
Labor force: 4.259 million by occupation: industry and construction 40%, agriculture and forestry 21%, other 39% (1992)
Unemployment rate: 2.6% officially registered unemployed (December
1994); large numbers of underemployed workers
Budget:
revenues: $4.95 billion
expenditures: $5.47 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1996 est.)
Industries: tractors, metal-cutting machine tools, off-highway dump trucks up to 110-metric-ton load capacity, wheel-type earth movers for construction and mining, eight-wheel-drive, high-flotation trucks with cargo capacity of 25 metric tons for use in tundra and roadless areas, equipment for animal husbandry and livestock feeding, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, linen fabric, wool fabric, radios, refrigerators, other consumer goods
Industrial production growth rate: −11% (1995 est.)
Electricity: capacity: 7,010,000 kW production: 24.9 billion kWh consumption per capita: 2,300 kWh (1995 est.)
Agriculture: grain, potatoes, vegetables; meat, milk
Illicit drugs: illicit cultivator of opium poppy and cannabis;
mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit
drugs to Western Europe
Exports: $4.2 billion (f.o.b., 1995)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
partners: Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany
Imports: $4.6 billion (c.i.f., 1995)
commodities: fuel, natural gas, industrial raw materials, textiles,
sugar
partners: Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany
External debt: $2 billion (September 1995 est.)
Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $186 million (1993)
note: commitments, $3,930 million ($1,845 million disbursements),
1992–95
Currency: Belarusian