I have no idea what the point of this thread is. The first post is some bullshit from ZH. If anyone is interest this is some background to belarus in 2011 to 2012
Quote:
International sanctions
2011 January - President Lukashenko is inaugurated for a fourth term in office. The EU reinstates a travel ban on him and freezes his assets, while the US imposes stricter financial controls and widens its travel bans on senior officials.
Belarus threatens the EU with retaliation over the sanctions and pushes ahead with plans to put more than 30 political activists, including four opposition leaders, on trial over the December protests.
2011 April - Explosion hits a busy metro station in Minsk, killing 11. President Lukashenko alleges a plot by "fifth columnists" to destabilize the country. Two suspects are arrested, and prosecutors say they confessed to the attacks.
2011 May - Opposition leader Andrei Sannikov is sentenced to five years in prison for organising protests over the December elections. His wife, the journalist Irina Khalip, receives a suspended prison sentence for "rioting".
Belarus cuts the official value of its rouble currency against the dollar by 36%, leaving it still less than half of the freely-traded interbank rate. This follows its most serious balance of payments crisis since independence drains its hard currency reserves.
Bailouts
2011 June - Belarus asks the IMF for an emergency loan of up to $8bn over the balance of payments crisis. The government raises its main interest rate from 14% to 16% and freezes prices on a number of staple foods. Panic buying of basic goods ensues.
Russia halves electricity supplies to Belarus over unpaid bills and in an effort to persuade the government to privatise lucrative assets. Belarus seeks a Russian-led $1.2bn bailout, which is conditional on reforms.
2011 July - Hundreds are beaten, manhandled and arrested after a month of nationwide anti-government protests.
2011 August - Royal Bank of Scotland ceases selling Belarusian government bonds after a campaign by human rights groups. RBS cites international sanctions, the deteriorating political situation and Belarus's tardy implementation of a IMF programme.
2011 September - The rouble falls sharply after the government allows a limited flotation in its latest bid to ease the financial crisis.
The two suspects in the Minsk Metro bombing case, Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalyov, are sentenced to death.
2011 November - Russia agrees to sell Belarus gas at 60% below the price charged to other European countries, in return for the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom taking full ownership of the Belarussian gas pipeline firm Beltranshaz.
Prominent human rights activist Ales Belyatski is found guilty of tax evasion and sentenced to four and a half years in prison. The EU says the case is politically motivated and calls for Mr Belyatski's immediate release.
2012 January - A new law restricts access to foreign websites and forces internet clubs and cafes to report users visiting sites registered abroad. This prompts the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders media freedom monitor to add Belarus to its list of "Enemies of the Internet".
2012 February - The European Union recalls its ambassadors from Belarus after the government expels the EU envoy and Polish ambassador in protest at further sanctions.
2012 March - Minsk Metro bombing suspects Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalyov are executed, prompting protests from the European Union.
2012 April - Opposition activists Andrei Sannikov and Dmitry Bondarenko are released from prison early, but others remain in jail.
2012 August - President Lukashenko replaces longstanding foreign minister Sergei Martynov, one of the few officials that the European Union was prepared to talk to, with a close aide. Earlier in the month he sacked the air defence and border guard commanders and expelled the Swedish ambassador after human-rights activists flew into Belarusian airspace to drop teddy bears with pro-democracy messages.
2012 September - Major opposition parties stage boycott of parliamentary elections, complaining that they are rigged. Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe observers complain that the election could not be considered free, and expresses concern about the counting procedures.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17941637
The long term inflation rate
and the short term
Statistics: Posted by johnnyone234 — Mon Jan 14, 2013 4:10 pm