Tag Archives: Eurasian Economic Union

Kyrgyzstan wants to export meat to Russia

OCT. 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – As part of Kyrgyzstan’s move towards membership of the Russia-led Customs Union, it has started preparing to export processed meat to Russia, media reported.

This is, potentially, significant as it shows just how the Customs Union, which turns into the Eurasian Economic Union, can help the poorer parts of the former Soviet Union.

It also shows how Russia is looking to its neighbours and allies for economic support to help it cope with the sanctions that the West has thrown over it.

Armenian cheese producers, for example, have said that they could export more cheese to Russia to make up for the shortfall of from France and other parts of the European Union.

Now the Kyrgyz news website 24.kg has quoted the agriculture minister as saying that he had spoken to his Russian counterpart and asked for guidance on bringing the meat processing industry in Kyrgyzstan up to standard for imports to Russia.

“Until now, the export of this product is prohibited. We asked about test batches in order for our businesses to start to explore the markets of Russia in anticipation of entering the Customs Union,” he said.

“The Minister gave a positive response and concluded a verbal agreement.”

Kyrgyzstan intends to join the Eurasian Economic Union, which also includes Belarus and Kazakhstan, next year. Armenia has also agreed to join the bloc.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

Kyrgyzstan readies for Customs Union

OCT. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s parliament passed a raft of economic reforms that paved the way for its accession into the Russia-led Customs Union. Kyrgyzstan wants to join the Customs Union by the end of this year. The Customs Union will morph into the Eurasian Economic Union at the start of 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)

Armenia to join Eurasian Union

OCT. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s government approved a draft treaty for joining the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, media reported.

The treaty should be signed by Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus at the end of summit this week in Minsk, paving the way for Armenia to join the group by the end of the year.

This is a critical moment in modern Armenian history. Armenia has been pulling away from the EU. By making the final jump into the Eurasian Economic Union, or Customs Union as it is currently known, Armenia will be confirming its pro-Russia allegiance.

The Eurasian Economic Union is mainly an economic union although it brings with it a more pro-Russia general alliance. And with Russia’s involvement in Ukraine that is, currently, a controversial stance.

But Armenia sees itself as having few options. It is surrounded by enemies and needs Russian support to bolster both its economy and military.

Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the Russian parliament’s committee on Eurasian integration, was candid in on the merits of an enlarged Eurasian Economic Union.

“The Eurasian Economic Union will be a powerful regional economic union, which will inevitably expand,” he said according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. “Apart from completely new regional economic architecture, the EEU will certainly become a powerful barrier on the way of those who are today trying to build unipolar world.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)

Kazakh president question the Eurasian Economic Union

AUG. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU) is still a few months from coming into existence and yet Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev is already threatening to quit the Russia-led alliance.

In an interview with a local TV station, Mr Nazarbayev said he wouldn’t be afraid of quitting the EaEU if the group was damaging the national interests.

“Our independence for which our forefathers fought is our greatest asset,” he said. “First, we will never sacrifice our independence. Second, we will do everything to defend it.”

Mr Nazarbayev’s comments are important as they come against the backdrop of fighting in Ukraine, where Russia is accused of supporting pro-separatist forces. Kazakh officials have become increasingly nervous that the Russia dominated north of the country may look to secede with Russia’s support.

Although economics and business interests weren’t mentioned by My Nazarbayev, there was also a clear underlying message.

Kazakhstan’s increased association with Russia has hurt it economically. Russia’s economy is so important for Central Asia that if it is impinged, this economic malaise is felt further down the chain.

The Eurasian Economic Union will come into place in 2015 and will be a direct descendent of the current Customs Union. Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus are members Customs Union. Kyrgyzstan and of the Armenia plan to join the group in the next few months.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)

Relations mended ahead of Kyrgyz CU membership

JULY 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh officials travelled to Bishkek to patch up their differences before Kyrgyzstan’s expected entry into the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia in 2015.

The meeting, attended by Kazakh deputy PM Bakitzhan Sagyntayev and Kyrgyz PM Djoomart Otorbayev ended positively with Kazakhstan pledging up to $200m in grants for Kyrgyzstan’s entry into the Union and discussing a possible electricity-for-water swap this winter.

But relations between the two sides have been unusually thorny in recent months.

Since April 14, Kazakh Customs Officials have been holding up wagons carrying petrol from the Russian energy giant Rosneft to Kyrgyzstan. Kazakh officials say they are simply complying with a government ruling banning all petrol exports from Kazakhstan. Kyrgyz officials have said that they are being obtuse.

Kazakh and Russian firms are expected to further dominate Kyrgyzstan’s domestic economy when Bishkek becomes a member of the Customs Union, which is morphing into the Eurasia Economic Union, either at the end of this year or the start of next year.

The Customs Union/Eurasian Economic Union will harmonise trade customs procedures and increase tariffs against non-members such as China. This all increases Kyrgyzstan’s reliance on Kazakhstan, making this week’s meeting even more important.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)

Kyrgyzstan’s Customs Union woes

JULY 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A new report released by the Kyrgyz government’s main think tank, the National Institute of Strategic Studies (NISS), said that joining the Customs Union (CU) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU) may trigger short term economic and social discomfort.

The report is the first serious analysis of the costs and benefits of membership carried out by the government itself. It will make for troubling reading for President Almazbek Atambayev who is still trying to sell the idea of membership of the CU/EaEU to the general public.

Membership of the CU will probably trigger inflation which may lead to political unrest and possibly even a rise in Islamic radicalism, the report said. The Macroeconomic situation may subsequently improve, the report added, without making predictions as to how long that might take.

The report also stressed several benefits of the CU, including duty-free oil imports from Russia — a benefit Kyrgyzstan already enjoys — and security via the Collective Security Treaty Organization, of which Kyrgyzstan is already a member.

On Kyrgyzstan’s frail democracy, the report was also incisive. Parliamentarianism would be better developed outside the EaEU than inside it, while norms of governance and nationalist sentiment in Russia could hamper Kyrgyzstan’s political development, the report said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 192, published on July 9 2014)

Kyrgyzstan EaEU membership good for migrants’

JUNE 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – From 2015, except for members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU), migrant workers from the ex-Soviet Union will only be allowed to work in Russia if they carry a passport and not just an ID card. Kyrgyzstan wants to join the EaEU which includes Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)

Russia FM visits Armenia

JUNE 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, visited Yerevan in a show of support for the Armenian government. Russia is Armenia’s main ally and the Armenian government wants to join the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union later this year. Pointedly, Mr Lavrov didn’t mention the Eurasian Economic Union during his trip.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)

Problems mount in Kyrgyz farming

JUNE 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz agriculture accounts for around a fifth of GDP and just under half the country’s employment according to the country’s National Statistics Committee, yet many farmers say the sector is on its knees.

As Kyrgyzstan prepares for entry into the Eurasian Economic Union comprising Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, discussions over farming’s future are only likely to intensify.

On June 12, Alibek Rakaev, Head of the Association of Pastoralists told journalists that meat production in the country was falling due to the prevalence of diseases that village vets have proven unable to diagnose or treat. Livestock farming was in a “critical condition”, he said.

Back in Soviet times Kyrgyzstan’s meat and dairy products were exported all over the Union, but neighbouring Kazakhstan now views Kyrgyzstan’s products with caution and has banned import of Kyrgyz milk and meat in the past. The Eurasian Economic Union has even tighter controls.

Poultry farmers might welcome membership, with high tariffs on non-Union imports potentially restricting the flow of Chinese chicken and eggs onto the domestic market, but for Kyrgyzstan’s crop-growers, Jomart Jumabekov, a member of the Public Advisory Board on the Ministry of Agriculture, said, closer integration with Russia and Kyrgyzstan means problems.

“I view the Customs Union negatively. Russian and Kazakh wheat and grains already dominate our market,” Mr Jumabekov told the Conway Bulletin. “With even fewer barriers to trade with these countries, we will stop growing even a small proportion of our own food. No-one will till the land.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)

Kyrgyzstan to join EEU by end-2014

JUNE 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s PM Djoomart Otorbayev said the country would be a member of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union by the end of 2014, Itar-Tass news agency reported. Mr Otorbayev’s comments were another indication that Kyrgyzstan is steadily moving towards Russia’s sphere of influence.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 188, published on JUNE 11 2014)