Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia News Archives

July 21, 2010

Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus Launch Customs Union

On July 5, 2010, at their meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko signed a declaration launching the Customs Union among the three countries, which came into effect on July 6.

The Customs Union was supposed to come into effect on July 1, but Belarus refused to sign the statement, demanding that Russia abolish its export duty on oil and oil products for the union partners. Russia promised to abolish the oil duty in 2012, after the three countries establish the common economic space.

The Belarus president announced on July 3 that Belarus had ratified the Code of the Customs Union, signaling that the country was prepared to join the Union.

“We are on the threshold of achieving a very high level of integration. Today we have a Customs Union; next we will set up a common economic space; ultimately I think we will have a single-currency union,” Medvedev said at a joint press conference following the signing of the declaration.

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan also announced that they were considering the possibility of joining the Customs Union.

For more information, please contact Aleksandra Noveska at our Macedonia office.

Source: BBC

March 30, 2010

Conference on Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan Customs Union

On January 25, 2010, at the World Customs Organization in Brussels, the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) held a conference on the ongoing project to establish a Customs Union among Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

The objective of the Union is to create a single economic market by 2012 and allow its members to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a single customs territory. The Belarus Ambassador to Belgium Vladimir Senko stated at the conference that his country hopes to attract foreign investment by developing into a transit country and a distribution center for EU products coming into this market.

However, European businesses have argued that the Union’s common external tariffs, due to come into effect on July 1, 2010, are too high and will thus restrict foreign investment in member countries.

As we reported earlier, the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia signed the Customs Union agreement on November 27, 2009, which came into effect on January 1, 2010. The state customs control at the border between Belarus and Russia is expected to be lifted on July 1, 2010, while the customs control at the border between Russia and Kazakhstan is expected to be lifted on July 1, 2011.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has recently stated that it would be logical for the three member countries to have a single currency as well.

For more information, please contact Jelena Jankovic in our Balkan Regional Office.

Source: New Europe

November 24, 2009

Presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia To Ink Customs Union Agreement on November 27

The presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia will sign the Customs Union agreement in Minsk, Belarus, on November 27, 2009. The objective of the Customs Union is for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a single customs territory.

The heads of state intend to adopt the Customs Code and the Unified Customs Fees, as well as ink relevant customs administration documents, at the summit in Minsk on November 27.

The three countries succeeded in unifying customs fees for over 11,000 commodities, thus creating a united customs territory. Each country would conduct accession negotiations with WTO separately, but the three countries would join the WTO simultaneously.

The Union will create a single market of 165 million people and will start to operate on January 1, 2010. The state customs control at the border between Belarus and Russia will be lifted on July 1, 2010, while the customs control at the border between Russia and Kazakhstan will be lifted on July 1, 2011.

For more information, please contact Aleksandra Noveska at our Macedonia office.