''Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta'' ('', BDG''; English: "Belarusian Business Newspaper", ) is a now-defunct, business-oriented daily

Russian-language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living Eas ...

newspaper based in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

, known for its criticisms of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лукашенко, Aleksandr Grigoryevich Luk ...

's government.

Kalinkina's editorship

In 2003, its editor was Svetlana Kalinkina. The paper began to publish reports and features critical of Lukashenko's government, including a series on the trial of Viktor Kazeko, former director of the state food company, a story on the corruption trial of former Minsk Tractor Works director Mikhail Leonov, and a poll asking readers whether Lukashenko should be allowed to have his presidential plane for personal use. Reporter

Iryna Khalip Iryna Khalip (or Irina Khalip; be, Iрына Халiп, russian: Ирина Халип) (born November 12, 1967) is a Belarusian journalist, reporter and editor in the Minsk bureau of ''Novaya Gazeta'', known for her criticism of Belarusian Pres ...

's articles on official corruption led to a brief suspension of the newspaper's printing rights for "insulting the honor and dignity of the president". Soon the paper was reportedly subject to a campaign of official harassment, including "politically motivated tax inspections, death threats and detentions". Belarus's Information Ministry began to harass any printer that agreed to work with the paper, forcing ''BDG'' to print in

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

, Russia. The print edition of ''BDG'' had largely disappeared from Belarus by September 2004, leaving only the website. Kalinkina then took a leave of absence from the paper to work against a national referendum that would eliminate presidential term limits, allowing Lukashenko to serve indefinitely. The referendum passed, and Kalinkina took a new position at ''

Narodnaya Volya Narodnaya Volya ( rus, Наро́дная во́ля, p=nɐˈrodnəjə ˈvolʲə, t=People's Will) was a late 19th-century revolutionary political organization in the Russian Empire which conducted assassinations of government officials in an att ...

''. In 2004, the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journ ...

awarded Kalinkina its International Press Freedom Award, "an annual recognition of courageous journalism", for her work with ''BDG''. The award citation praised her "critical reporting on various government abuses" in the face of "years of legal and bureaucratic harassment from Belarusian authorities".

Print run cancellation

On 13 March 2006, a week before the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

that would usher in Lukashenko's third term, ''BDG'', ''Narodnaya Volya'', and ''Tovarishch'' had their print runs abruptly cancelled by their Smolensk supplier. Kalinkina told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' that she believed Belarusian government pressure to be responsible, saying, "When, a week before the election, someone refuses to print three papers, it is clear there are political reasons." Shortly after, increasing financial pressures forced the paper's closure.

References

{{Reflist, 33em Defunct newspapers published in Belarus Business newspapers Mass media in Minsk Business in Belarus Free Media Awards winners