Tag Archives: Eurasian Economic Union

INCOMPLETE STORY: Kyrgyz-Kazakh trade rows

>> So what is going on here? Why are Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan rowing about trade?

>> In an interview with Euronews, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev blamed Kazakhstan for imposing a trade barrier in 2010 which then forced it to join the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union. The Kazakh side responded by denying that this had ever happened and issuing a formal complaint.

>> So is this serious? What is the back-story to this?

>> This an extension of a long-running feud between the two neighbours over trade. Each has accused the other of underhand tactics which have damaged their trade. Kazakhstan is a far bigger economy than Kyrgyzstan. This puts Kazakhstan is a far stronger position than Kyrgyzstan and Kyrgyz MPs and officials often accuse it of essentially bullying it. The issue here, though, maybe that Atambayev is looking to deflect from his unpopular move in 2015 to pull Kyrgyzstan into the Kremlin’s Eurasian Economic Union. Kyrgyzstan became the fifth member of the group after Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia.

>> Why has the Eurasian Economic Union become so unpopular in Kyrgyzstan?

>> It’s mainly the timing of joining that was the problem. Russia had just tipped into a recession linked to a collapse in oil prices. Jobs for migrant workers dried up and various projects that Russia had promised to fund were scrapped. At the same time, Kyrgyzstan’s economy started faltering and the currency started to fall. Officials looking to shift blame found an easy target in the Eurasian Economic Union. There have also been some genuine problems with paperwork and with what was described in 2015 as a flood of cheap imports from Kazakhstan and Russia into Kyrgyzstan, which damaged local producers.

>> Are there any numbers to back this up?

>> The data that Kyrgyz officials use to back up their arguments is from the Kyrgyz Statistic Committee which said that trade with other Eurasian Economic Union members was down by over 18% last year. This was held up as proof that the Eurasian Economic Union was not working. The reality is a bit more complex. Kazakhstan also published trade figures that showed its trade with other Eurasian Economic Union figures had fallen by a similar amount. This may be more to do with the general regional economic downturn than the Eurasian Economic Union.

Turkey says it is interested in joining Eurasian Economic Union

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AUG. 19 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkey’s economy minister, Nihat Zeybekci, said that the country was interested in joining the Eurasian Customs Union, the customs-free zone that includes the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The comments underline Turkey’s drift away from Europe towards Russia and Central Asia. The Eurasian Economic Union is led by Russia and also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Importantly, Turkey did not say it wanted to join the EEU.

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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Armenia accuses Kremlin of imperiallism

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JULY 12 2017 (The Bulletin) — Armenian lawmakers accused the Kremlin of outdated imperialism after its parliament passed a law which said that citizens of other Eurasian Union countries — Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia — could only work as commercial drivers in Russia if their countries recognised Russian as an official language. The only Eurasian Union country that doesn’t is Armenia.

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(News report from Issue No. 337, published on July 27 2017)

Kazakh Parliament approves aid deal

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JUNE 14 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s parliament ratified a deal to give Kyrgyzstan $100m of aid to help adapt to Eurasian Economic Union regulations for animal sanitary and customs procedures, media reported. Kyrgyzstan has previously complained that Kazakhstan was deliberately causing problems on its shared border.

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Kyrgyzstan receives $100m for EEU boost

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MAY 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan agreed to give $100m to Kyrgyzstan to help its integration with the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union. The funds have been earmarked for help to improve customs procedures and veterinary checks. The two issues have caused friction between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan over the past few years. Kyrgyz have become increasingly sceptical about the Eurasian Economic Union.

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(News report from Issue No. 329, published on May 20 2017)

Georgia sees no threat to bumper exports from EEU

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TBILISI, APRIL 8 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) trade bloc has not damaged Georgia’s exports, Mariam Gabunia, head of the department for foreign policy at the Georgian economy ministry, told The Conway Bulletin in an interview.

Instead she said that Georgia was on course for a bumper year with exports rising strongly after a dip last year linked to tough economic conditions in Russia, Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Some analysts have said that the EEU, which is essentially a trade bloc including Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, would hurt those who didn’t sign up — including Georgia. Ms Gabunia, though, waived aside this notion.

“In general, we do not see any negative impact on Georgia’s trade with regard to the EEU,” she said. “We are part of the CIS free trade agreement and Belarus and Kyrgyzstan are part of it. On top of that we have bilateral FTA (free trade agreements) with Russia, Armenia and Kazakhstan.”

Ms Gabunia’s comments are important because it is one of the first times that a senior official from a government outside the EEU has commented on whether the bloc has hit regional trade. Many businesses within the bloc have been complaining that the extra bureaucracy and the bias towards the larger members have created problems.

Georgia is, to a large extent, still reliant on trade with its former Soviet neighbours. One of the biggest boosts to its economy over the past few years was repairing relations with Russia. Last year it was Georgia’s biggest export market with $200m of sales.

And Ms Gabunia said that bilateral agreements made in the 1990s underpinned Georgia’s trade within the former Soviet Union, taking precedence over EEU rules.

“According to the legislation of the EEU the FTA that were concluded before the creation of the EEU will stay in force. and we had FTA with all these countries before the EEU was created,” she said.

This year has started strongly, mainly because of much improved macroeconomic conditions in Georgia and the rest of the region. Ms Gabunia said that trade relations with Russia had improved along with political relations.

“As far as concerns the other EEU members, the situation is improving,” she said.

“Exports to Belarus increased by 61% in the first two months of 2017, for example.”

According to Geostat, Georgia’s biggest exports are copper ore, ferroalloys, wine, medicines and cars.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Kyrgyzstan hosts Eurasian presidency

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MARCH 7 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan hosted its first meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, part of the system that runs the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), as it officially took over the rotating presidency of the trade bloc. Kyrgyzstan’s presidency of the EEU comes at a time when the organisation has become increasingly unpopular, especially in Kyrgyzstan, over sluggish economic growth rates. The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council is attended by PMs.

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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)f

Kyrgyz president complains about Kazakhstan

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FEB. 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with Euronews, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev directly criticised his neighbour Kazakhstan for imposing what he described as an economic blockade in 2010. He was discussing why Kyrgyzstan joined the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union, a trade group that has grown unpopular in Kyrgyzstan. Kazakhstan responded to the accusation of an economic blockade by filing an official complaint. Relations between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have become fraught over trade rows.

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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)

Kazakhstan’s trade with EEU falls by 21%

JAN. 16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s trade with the rest of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) fell by 21% last year, the Kazakh Security Committee said, highlighting a general contraction in the Kremlin-led block’s economy. Most of the decrease was linked to Russia. Last week, Kyrgyzstan also reported a drop in trade with EEU members.

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(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Data shows Kyrgyz trade with EEU has fallen

BISHKEK, JAN. 11 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s trade with other members of the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) fell 18.6% in the first 10 months of 2016, the Russian news website gazeta.ru quoted an unnamed source at the Kyrgyz statistics committee as saying.

This data, if confirmed when the official statistics are released, highlights Kyrgyz officials’ concerns that joining the EEU has had a negative impact on its trade. They have said that the EEU favours the larger countries and has hampered Kyrgyzstan’s trade with China.

“In the first 10 months of 2016, trade turnover, the import-exports of Kyrgyzstan, with the EEU member states comprised of $1.575b,” the unnamed source said. “Compared to the same period in 2015, this figure was 81.4%, in other words it was a drop of 18.6%.”

The data also goes against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s insistence that Kyrgyzstan’s trade turnover has increased since it joined the EEU.

Last month in a very public show of his frustration with the EEU, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev delayed signing a key customs agreement between the five member states at a ceremony in St Petersburg.

Kyrgyzstan joined the EEU in August 2015 but its businessmen and MPs have complained of excessive bureaucracy and barriers to trading with China that the EEU has imposed.

Many analysts said Kyrgyzstan had been coerced into joining the EEU.

The other EEU member states are Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia.

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(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)