Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 19 / Trend, V.Zhavoronkova/
For the Customs Union (CU) of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan it is too early to accept new members, a Russian expert on Central Asia Leonid Gusev said.
On Tuesday Russian official said Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan has real prospective to join the CU. Kyrgyzstan officially expressed its willing to join CU in spring, 2011.A program for Kyrgyzstan's joining the organization has been already prepared. Once Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan join the CU, they will have to consolidate customs duties with other member-countries.
Gusev believes for the CU it is too early to accept new member-states.
"Prior to Kyrgyzstan's and Tajikistan's joining the union we should wait and watch how it will be functioning with current configuration," Senior Fellow at the Institute of International Studies at the Russian Foreign Ministry's Moscow State Institute of the International Relations Leonid Gusev told Trend via e-mail.
Gusev said the union is very young, and the officials want to demonstrate its effectiveness and readiness to enlarge by making statements about accepting new countries in it.
The agreement on establishing the CU, which provides for a common customs space among Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, entered into force in July 2010.
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan may face a number of problems in their initiatives to enter the union, he believes. For instance, many national companies in Kyrgyzstan may lose their business as it will light green to major foreign companies to enter the country.
Still there are different opinions on Kyrgyzstan's joining the CU. On the one hand Kyrgyz Chamber of Commerce member Taras Krilov says the CU opens huge market for the country, while Kyrgyz major Presidential candidate Almazbek Atambayev assures many are dissatisfied with Kyrgyzstan's joining initiative.
Meanwhile, a senior official of Tajikistan's People's Democratic Party regards the CU enlargement as a PR motion.
Tajik MP Rakhmatillo Zoirov cautions Russian officials, which speak about the CU enlargement, refuse to suggest a way to realize this.