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Belarus: Independent States
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Belarus continues to rank extremely poorly in both investment climate and economic freedom, with the authorities remaining committed to only "socially-oriented" market reform. The GOB's industrial sector policy intends to favor employment but remains uncompetitive given the government's practice of increasing wages more quickly than productivity growth. In the agricultural sector, the rural population remains dependent upon budget subsidies designed to keep afloat unviable collective and state farms. Private ownership of agricultural lands ... remains prohibited.
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Belarus describes its economy as "market socialism." This involves the state setting prices, state intervention in the management of private enterprises, and extensive regulations of industry. It imports more than it exports. Its largest trading partner by far is Russia, sending 59.8 percent of its exports there and 4.9 percent to Germany.
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Over four million people comprise the labor force in Belarus, with women holding slightly more jobs than men. In 2005, nearly a quarter of the population were employed in industrial factories. Employment is ... high in agriculture, manufacturing sales, trading goods, and education. The unemployment rate, according to Belarusian government statistics, was about 1.5% in 2005. The number of unemployed persons totaled 679,000, with approximately two-thirds being women. The rate of unemployment has been decreasing since 2003, and the overall rate has been lower since statistics were first taken in 1995.
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Belarusian civil society organizations are courageously speaking out—calling on UN member states to reject Belarus' bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. The statement by the Belarusian Association of Journalists is below....
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Customs controls happen in a room of the train station in the Belarus train station. As of 2005, you are most likely to have a short chat with a customs officer - the system of green (nothing to declare) and red (something to declare) streams and random checks of suspicious looking people in the green stream - everyone is presumed to be suspicious. In practice, the rules seem to be fairly standard - declare expensive goods, you can import/export a small quantity of alcohol, cigarettes, computer equipment for personal use. However, the formal content of the customs form asks whether you are carrying any publications. So if you have, e.g. a US passport and are carrying a whole bunch of do-it-yourself-color-revolution materials and you have that subversive look about you, then you will probably be giving the customs people have a legal reason to detain you and/or deport you.
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Most broadcasting stations in Belarus are state-controlled. National television has no regular religious broadcasts, but the first national radio channel broadcasts regular Orthodox readings and music on Saturday evenings. Some FM radio stations ... occasionally carry Christian programming.
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