Business interests and personal sympathy to Alexander Lukashenka have been called by Belarusian analysts the reason for Berlusconi's friendliness and itself the fact of his short visit to Belarus. Anyway, it was truly a historical event that passed unnoticed: the previous time Belarus has been visited by a leader of a G8 country (except Russia) was Bill Clinton's visit in 1994. It's been fifteen years since then.

A little insight on how show business is done in Belarus. For rock and indie music the conditions are quite hard in Belarus, where there is no developed market and infrastructure and where the radio stations are under state-pressure and self-censorship. Despite that, modern bands keep existing and appearing in Belarus just as in any neighbouring country and often become recognized abroad. Sadly, sometimes they get better recognition overseas than in Belarus.

BBC World service interviewed Lesley Curwen, manager of one of the world's leading steel trading companies which recently invested in Belarus. Referring to Belarus as "Byelorussia", which is painful to hear for most Belarusians, he says that he does not feel that they work in a dictatorial country. At least at this point, Mr. Curwen is very positive about his experience in Belarus. It remains to be seen how long this will last.

Appeasement in our time -- Berlusconi goes to Belarus by Joerg Forbrig BERLIN -- This year has been full of celebrations of the peaceful revolutions of 1989, arguably the most important advance of freedom, democracy, and human rights in history. But this year has also seen rapid European rapprochement with (and some might say appeasement of) one of the world’s worst autocrats: Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus. Europe’s embrace reached a new level Monday when Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi paid an official visit to Minsk, the first by a Western head of government in over a decade. Belarus, Europe’s immediate neighbor to the East, has been ruled by Lukashenko since 1994. For one-and-a-half decades, a fully fledged dictatorship replaced whatever modest democratization had taken place in the early 1990s. An omnipotent presidential administration controls all aspects of life in the country, from mass media that are almost completely under state control to an economy that remains centrally steered and nationalized. A vast police apparatus, including a KGB, instills Belarusians with fear and apathy, while dissidents and civic activists face harassment, beatings, fines, and prison sentences. Several prominent opposition leaders have disappeared without a trace. Elections are rigged, as the OSCE has repeatedly declared. Lukashenko, meanwhile, has abolished presidential term limits and can effectively rule for life.

Нацыянальны цэнтр заканадаўства і прававых даследаванняў пры Адміністрацыі прэзідэнта Рэспублікі Беларусь узнаўляе працу па распрацоўцы праекта закона «Аб беларусах замежжа». Нацыянальны цэнтр заканадаўства і прававых даследаванняў пры Адміністрацыі прэзідэнта Рэспублікі Беларусь узнаўляе працу па распрацоўцы праекта закона «Аб беларусах замежжа».

The Financial Times have this week published several stories on Belarus by its Eastern European corespondent Jan Cienski. Both of them seem rather to be stating the obvious but are very useful to get a snapshot impression of the current state of Belarusian economy and foreign policy. The coutry feeling symptoms of the economic crisis and, being unable to get Russian sponsorship any more, therefore trying to maneuver between the EU and Russia.

The concerns in the West are not just about the size the Russian-Belarusian exercise, but by the fact that foreign observers hadn’t been invited to observe them. NATO spokesperson James Appathurai notes that the military exercise Zapad-2009 (West-2009) can harm relations between Russia and the NATO.

Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez tightens bonds with US foes: from Castro to Lukashenka, the influential British newspaper The Times states. Hugo Chávez defends the ‘bad guys’ of the world By Hannah Strange Published: November 23, 2009

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission competed its third review of the country’s Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) in Minsk on Nov. 10-19. The mission scrutinized the implementation of the economic program tied to IMF’s loan to Belarus. Chief of IMF mission in Belarus Chris Jarvis concluded the country’s performance has been good and IMF benchmarks and criteria have been met. Upon the review by the IMF Executive Board in late- December, Belarus will receive an amount of US$700 million.   Jarvis said “monetary policy would continue to support the credibility of the exchange rate regime” and “prudent fiscal and monetary policies would narrow the current account deficit and bring inflation to single digits.” The IMF experts also discussed “the issues that would strengthen the financial system and the independence” of the National Bank of Belarus. An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission competed its third review of the country’s Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) in Minsk on Nov. 10-19. The mission scrutinized the implementation of the economic program tied to IMF’s loan to Belarus. Chief of IMF mission in Belarus Chris Jarvis concluded the country’s performance has been good and IMF benchmarks and criteria have been met. Upon the review by the IMF Executive Board in late- December, Belarus will receive an amount of US$700 million.   Jarvis said “monetary policy would continue to support the credibility of the exchange rate regime” and “prudent fiscal and monetary policies would narrow the current account deficit and bring inflation to single digits.” The IMF experts also discussed “the issues that would strengthen the financial system and the independence” of the National Bank of Belarus.

6:30 p.m., November 23, Monday Rayburn House Office Building, U.S. Congress Independence Ave. and South Capitol Street, Washington, DC 20003

Мінфін ЗША у чарговы раз падоўжыў рашэнне пра змякчэнне санкцый супраць двух беларускіх прадпрыемстваў канцэрна «Белнафтахім» – ААТ «Лакафарба» і «Полацк-Шкловалакно». Як паведамляе афіцыйны сайт Мінфіна, рашэнне падоўжана па 31 траўня 2010 года.

Усясьветная грамадзкая арганізацыя Transparency International апублікавала штогадовы рэйтынг карумпаванасьці краінаў. Паводле яго, Беларусь прызнаная краінай з высокай ступеньню карумпаванасьці.

London's Financial Times published another piece on Belarus economy. About a year ago the leading European business newspaper released a special supplement devoted to promotion of Belarus as an attractive investment destination. This week, Jan Cienski in Minsk describes how the Belarusian authorities are trying to raise some cash without losing control over the state-owned large enterprizes: The parking lots of Belarusian heavy truckmaker Belaz offer a hard-to-miss clue to how the ex-Soviet republic is tackling the downturn. They are packed with unsold bright yellow behemoths. The reason for the enormous inventories is that the government – through the four largest state-controlled banks – has pumped cash into the state-owned enterprises that make up three-quarters of the economy. The International Monetary Fund foresees no contraction in Belarus this year, in contrast to the deep recessions taking place in neighbouring Ukraine and Russia. Keeping state enterprises afloat has preserved jobs – unemployment is officially only 1 per cent. However, the policy could be storing up trouble for the banking system. Andrei Kobyakov, the country's deputy prime minister, says that the banking system’s non-performing loans are only 4 per cent. But Standard & Poor’s, the rating agency, says problem assets in the financial system could rise to as high as 35-50 per cent “in a reasonable worst-case scenario”.