Oleg Vitoldovich Proleskovsky ( be, Алег Вітальдавіч Праляскоўскі ''Aleg Vitaldavich Pralyaskovski''; russian: Олег Витольдович Пролесковский ''Oleg Vitoldovich Proleskovskiy''; born 1 October 1963) is a

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 R ...

ian politician who was the

Minister of Information An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given to ...

of Belarus.

Biography

O. Proleskovsky was born into a working-class family in

Zagorsk Sergiyev Posad ( rus, Се́ргиев Поса́д, p=ˈsʲɛrgʲɪ(j)ɪf pɐˈsat) is a city and the administrative center of Sergiyevo-Posadsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: It was previously known as ''Sergiyev Posad'' (unti ...

(now Sergiev Posad) in the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

. In 1985, he graduated from the

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 ...

Air Defense and Rocket School of the

Air Defence Forces Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

. In 1998, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the

Belarusian State University Belarusian State University (BSU) ( be, links=no, Белару́скі дзяржа́ўны ўніверсітэ́т, ; russian: links=no, Белору́сский госуда́рственный университе́т) is a university in Mins ...

. He served in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. He held different posts in the Military Academy of Belarus in Minsk from 1990 through 2002. He headed the Analytical Division of the

KGB of Belarus The State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (KGB RB; russian: Комитет государственной безопасности Республики Беларусь, КГБ РБ; be, Камітэт дзяржаўнай бяс ...

and was the Director-General of the

Belarusian Telegraph Agency The Belarusian Telegraph Agency or BelTA ( be, Беларускае Тэлеграфнае Агенцтва, russian: link=no, Белорусское Телеграфное Агентство, БелТА) is the state-owned national news agency ...

. He was appointed Deputy Head of the Administration of the President in 2003, a post he held until 2007. He was the chief of the main ideological administration of the president of Belarus from 2007 to 2008. He was appointed the director of the Information-Analytical Center of the administration of the president of Belarus in 2008, a post he held until 4 December 2009, when he was appointed Minister of Information of Belarus.

EU sanctions

In 2011, after the wave of repressions that followed the 2010 presidential election, Oleg Proleskovsky became subject to an EU travel ban and asset freeze as part of a sanctions list of 208 individuals responsible for political repressions, electoral fraud and

propaganda in Belarus Propaganda in Belarus is the practice of state directed communication in order to promote patriotism and acceptance of Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian as Aly ...

. The sanctions were lifted in 2016. According to the

EU Council The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

's decision,Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP of 15 October 2012 concerning restrictive measures against Belarus
/ref> Proleskovsky "has been one of the main sources and voices of state propaganda and ideological support for the regime. He has been promoted to the position of Minister, and has since continued to be a vocal propagandist and supporter of the acts of the regime towards the democratic opposition and civil society."

Personal life

Oleg Proleskovsky is married, and has two daughters.

References

External links

Who is who in Belarus
1963 births Living people People from Sergiyev Posad Belarusian propagandists Government ministers of Belarus Presidential Administration of Belarus {{Belarus-politician-stub