eniy LUGIN, chairman]; Belarusian Popular Front or NFB [Levon
BARSHEVSKIY, acting chairman]; Belarusian Social Sports Party
[Aleksandr ALEKSANDROVICH, chairman]; Ecological Party [Liudmila
YELIZAROVA, chairman]; National Democratic Party of Belarus or NDPB
[Viktor NAUMENKO, chairman]; United Democratic Party of Belarus or
ADPB [Aleksandr DOBROVOLSKIY]; Belarusian Socialist Party or SPB
[Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV]; Slavic Assembly or SAB [Nikolai SYARECHEV];
Liberal-Democratic Party or LDPB [Sergei GAIDUKEVICH, chairman];
Belarusian Christian-Democratic Unity or BKDZ [Petr SILKO]; Polish
Democratic Union or PDZ [Konstantin TARASEVICH]; Party of Beer Lovers
[Yuriy GONCHAR]; Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei
KALYAKIN and Vasiliy NOVIKOV, chairmen]; Belarusian Labor Party or BPP
[Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV]

International organization participation: BIS, CCC, CEI, CIS, EBRD,
ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Inmarsat, Intelsat
(nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NACC,
OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission : Ambassador-designate Valeriy TSEPKALO
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 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 description: 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

Economy - 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 in December 1991, 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