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New countries' possible entry into Customs Union is minimal

Politics Materials 21 December 2010 09:00 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 20 / Trend E. Tariverdiyeva /

The issue of new countries' accessing to the Customs Union will not be resolved soon, Russian political analyst Yevgeny Minchenko said.

"Theoretically, the Russian authorities intend to maximally expand the Customs Union and other integration projects to the extent of the CIS. But it is unclear how it will be implemented in practice," Minchenko, director of the Russian International Institute of Political Expertise, told Trend over from Moscow.

A single customs code, based on the agreement signed in 2007 has been in force on the territory of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan since June 1, 2010. The work is underway to establish a single customs zone.

A number of Armenian media distributed the information about Armenia's possible immediate entry into the Customs Union in connection with Russian Vice President of Commerce and Industry Georgi Petrov's visit to Yerevan.

However, Armenia's accession to the Customs Union is technically very low, at least for the lack of a common border, he said.

"The political context is also important in relation to Azerbaijan's displeasure with these events," the expert said.

At the same time, there is the declared desire of Central Asian countries to join the Customs Union. But there is little enthusiasm among the member-countries of the Customs Union.

"When it deals with Kyrgyzstan, it is unclear how the current leadership is able to control its territory and whether the issue of customs duties will turn into a big problem. Trafficking is the acute problem in these countries," Minchenko said.

This concerns other former Soviet countries. Russia would like to see Ukraine in the Customs Union. But the issue of political will of the Ukrainian leadership and the fact that Ukraine has been a member of the World Trade Organization for a long time are important, Minchenko said.

Regarding the issue of Russia's entry into the WTO, then, Russia will not abandon either Customs Union or other integration projects in the CIS, as it is one of the priorities of the foreign policy of the Kremlin, he said.

"The Customs Union is not contrary to the WTO. There is the formula for the members of the Customs Union to join the WTO. It deals with coordinating the time for members to join individually since technically there is no possibility of joining the group," he said.

Russia and the EU officially concluded bilateral negotiations on terms for Russia's accession to the WTO. Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina and European Commissioner for Trade, Karel De Gucht signed a memorandum of understanding on the conditions for Russia's accession to the WTO in Brussels on December 7.

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