A solid legal basis has been provided for the movement of goods, capital and services among Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin spotlighted business integration in the post-Soviet space on Friday. Following lengthy talks in St Petersburg, he signed about a score of important documents opening the door to integration within the Eurasian Economic Community (Eurasec).
The meetings of the Eurasec participants were held in the recently repaired buildings of the Senate and the Synod, in the building's wing that houses the Presidential Library named after Boris Yeltsin. The heads of government of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan were the first to hold a meeting.
Putin said in his opening remarks that a common system of non-tariff regulation would come into force on January 1, 2010, and that the creation of a common customs territory would be completed by July 1, 2010.
The Russian prime minister said that since the package of key decisions and documents was prepared, the immediate objective was to form such joint mechanisms that would "eliminate many protectionist barriers" in the common customs space and would ensure effective control of the external border of the Customs Union.
The people of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will immediately feel the benefits of these efforts, as the movement of people and goods within the Customs Union territory will not be impeded by anything. The only drawback is that prices of some goods, in particular lamb, horse and goat meat as well as meat preserves, could grow in Russia when the common customs tariff is introduced on July 1. At the same time, prices of some other goods are expected to go down.
After the three presidents' meeting, the heads of government of Eurasec countries met to discuss and sign a large number of documents and hold a joint press conference. Putin underlined the importance of the first step they had taken toward creating a common economic space.
"In less than a month, on January 1, the Customs Union will begin operating in full. It would be no exaggeration to call this event a milestone for our three states and for the integration processes in the CIS," he said. "We expect the rest of our Eurasec partners to join this policy in the future."
"It is a distinctly higher level of integration," Putin said. "A total of 170 million people represents a big consumer market which will open new vistas for businesses and producers from our countries and increase investment appeal."
The Russian leader said: "The formation of our common economic space must be completed no later than in two years."
"Numerous attempts were made after the dissolution of the Soviet Union to restore severed ties and promote integration in the post-Soviet space," Putin said in conclusion. "The CIS and other organisations, which it should be said spent too much time adopting declarations, were often criticised. However, they have been useful associations. As for today's event, it signified a change in the quality of economic integration. It is a major change that will have lasting economic and social consequences for our people."
Alexander Grinberg