Minsk, Belarus

Overview:

Belarus is a poor, highly repressive former Soviet republic with little to offer in the way of jobs and other opportunities. Aleksandr Lukashenko has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means and a centralized economic system. Government restrictions on political and civil freedoms, freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion have remained in place. The current migrant situation has some remaining in place as opposed to returning to their home countries or facing off against Polish soldiers and border guards.  

American Embassy Minsk:

American embassy in Minsk opened in 1992 and was part of the Department’s Special Embassy Program.   The inspection took place from October 1-8, 2001 shortly after the September 11 attacks which made us a little anxious to travel.  This trip was the first of four embassies to be inspected, in the Baltic region with other embassies including Vilnius, Lithuania; Riga, Latvia and Tallinn, Estonia.  

This was a very challenging inspection for me since I was still relatively new to OIG just after 9/11 and we only had a week.   I was essentially the lead Management Inspector responsible making travel arrangements for the team and facilitating communications with embassy Minsk before our arrival.  I also had to train a brand new inspector and I had never inspected facilities or general services.  

Fred was kind enough to take the time to write an excellent appraisal of my performance.  I ran into Fred at a fitness club in downtown Falls Church after his permanent retirement around 2010.  He was living in McLean and doing well.  Thanks to Administrative Officer Tom Burke who arranged for our accommodations, orientation to Minsk and a couple of excursions for us.   Among the findings were:

Findings:

The embassy was alarmingly overcrowded and in need of major renovation. The office of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) needed to renovate the facilities as quickly as possible and then to maintain them.  An additional contractor from Pacific Architects and Engineers to assist in the maintenance of the embassy complex and reassess reassess the regional coverage for facilities maintenance.     A motor pool dispatcher should be hired.  Morale among local staff was a problem.  An offshore retirement program for should be established for local employees and the Regional Financial Service Center in Paris should provide Embassy Minsk with an annual summary of the amount of U.S. government contributions made toward retirement for each employee going back to 1992, or as far back as records are available.  Erroneous charges to the embassy Overseas Buildings Operations allotment 2221 for budget fiscal years 1997, 1999, and 2000 should be corrected.  Consular receipts for January through September 2001 should be reported.

Robert Raynor (Management), me, Ambassador Fred Rondon, Team Leader and Joe Lahnstein walking to the Embassy. Fred (Fernando) was the former Ambassador to Ecuador and Madagascar and worked at the NSC.   Other team members not pictured were Don Bramonte (Deputy), Bill Belcher (DS), and Carl Troy (CONS).   It was nice travelling again with Bill and my first time with Carl who was a lot of fun especially when we got together for drinks, after dinner.             

 The 3-star Planeta Hotel is located in the center of Minsk. The Old   Town, Jewish Memorial and Opera and Ballet Theatre are located   nearby. The hotel was reconstructed in 2001 and is convenient to the   embassy.  Rooms quite spartan with slat bed and thin mattress.  Food   was very basic Russian fare and not much better in town, although there was a McDonald's.

Victory Square

Fellow team members and embassy staff and families out on an excursion to Mir Castle, historic 16th century fortified castle.

Mir Castle