dges appointed by the president
and half appointed by the Chamber of Representatives)

Political parties and leaders:
Pro-government parties: Agrarian Party or AP [leader NA];
Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [leader NA]; Belarusian Patriotic
Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH,
chairman]; Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH];
Social-Sports Party [leader NA]; Opposition parties: Belarusian
Popular Front or BNF [Vintsuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democrat
Party Narodnaya Gromada or BSDP NG [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman];
Belarusian Social-Democratic Party Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH,
chairman]; United Civic Party or UCP [Anatol LEBEDKO]; Party of
Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKIN, chairman]; Women's
Party "Nadezhda" [Valentina MATUSEVICH, chairperson]
note: the opposition Belarusian Party of Labor [Aleksandr
BUKHVOSTOV] was liquidated in August 2004, but remains active

Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA

International organization participation:
CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS,
ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, NSG,
OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Mikhail KHVOSTOV
chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604
FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805
consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador George A. KROL
embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220002
mailing address: PSC 78, Box B Minsk, APO 09723
telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83, 217-7347, 217-7348
FAX: [375] (17) 234-7853

Flag description:
red horizontal band (top) and green horizontal band one-half the
width of the red band; a white vertical stripe on the hoist side
bears Belarusian national ornamention in red

Economy Belarus

Economy - overview:
Belarus's economy in 2003-04 posted 6.1% and 6.4% growth. Still,
the economy continues to be hampered by high inflation, persistent
trade deficits, and ongoing rocky relations with Russia, Belarus'
largest trading partner and energy supplier. Belarus has seen little
structural reform since 1995, when President LUKASHENKO launched the
country on the path of "market socialism." In keep