The Customs Union and its common economic space known as the Eurasian Economic Union, which was created by Belarus and Kazakhstan together with Russia, will have one more member next year. Kyrgyzstan has announced plans to join by January 2015.
Kyrgyzstan’s President Almazbek Atambayev made the announcement during his public address marking his country’s Independence Day on August 31."I am convinced that this is a very correct and accurate decision, and there is no equivalent alternative to it. Either the country will face isolation, or get a powerful impetus for the socio-economic development,” Atambayev was quoted as saying by the Kyrgyz Telegraph Agency. “I want to emphasise that the countries of the Customs Union absolutely do not have any territorial claims against us. The levels of economic development and incomes of the population in them are several times higher than in our country. We will get a chance to pull up our performance to this bar."
The draft legislation needed in order for the country to join the Customs Union is ready and will soon be tabled in parliament for a vote.
"I hope that the Jogorku Kenesh [Kyrgyz Parliament] will again thoroughly discuss all the arguments of ‘for’ and ‘against’ and support the set of documents on joining the Customs Union, which has already been approved by the government and will be submitted to the parliament," Atambayev said.To join the Eurasian Economic Union, Kyrgyzstan needs to adopt unified tariffs and technical regulations, harmonising labour and immigration legislation and establishing a common banking system.
The Customs Union was created four years ago in order to create a single customs territory where no customs duties or economic restrictions are applied.