Tag Archives: Eurasian Economic Union

Frustrated Kyrgyz President delays signing EEU customs code

BISHKEK, DEC. 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev delayed signing a new Eurasian Economic Union customs code, media reported, a very public signal of his frustration with the Kremlin-led group.

The code, drawn up to replace an earlier one agreed by the EEU’s predecessor the Customs Union, and a deal on foreign trade policies were supposed to have been signed by member states at a meeting in St Petersburg in a setpiece end-of-year summit.

Instead, Tigran Sarkisyan, head of the EEU’s executive unit, was forced to issue a statement explaining the delay.

“All documents were signed except the first issue on the agenda, a statement of the development of EEU trade policies, which three countries signed but Kyrgyzstan refused to sign, and the second document, the Customs Code, which three countries signed but Kyrgyzstan refused to sign,” media quoted him as saying.

Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko was absent from the meeting.

Hours later the Eurasian Economic Commission released another statement which said that Mr Atambayev had apparently signed the deals. There was no explanation on what had triggered Mr Atambayev’s change of mind.

Kyrgyzstan joined the EEU in August 2015 but has complained that the rules favor Kazakhstan and Russia and that it has lost business since joining. Local businessmen have also said the mountain of red tape has increased costs.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 311, published on Jan. 6 2017)

EEU customs code to be ratified in Armenia

DEC. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s parliament ratified an agreement on introducing the Eurasian Economic Union’s customs code into law. The EEU has developed a customs code to increase integration within the group. Russian officials have previously said that the code will be finalised at the end of December.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 310, published on Dec. 23 2016)

Kyrgyz MPs blame EEU for blocking meat exports

BISHKEK, NOV. 17 2016, (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyz MPS blamed the Eurasian Economic Union for unfair restrictions which have slowed meat exports.

The criticism of the Eurasian Economic Union, and the implied bias towards the bigger member states, is just the latest attacked on the Kremlin-led economic bloc from Kyrgyz politicians and businesses who have always been sceptical of the benefits of joining.

Earlier this year, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev said that the Eurasian Economic Union had actually resulted in a drop in exports and also created mountains of extra red tape for businesses to deal with.

In parliament, Kyrgyz PM Sooronbai Jeenbekov said that meat producers have not been able to export to Eurasian Economic Union states since it joined the bloc because of alleged sanitary infractions.

“Kyrgyzstan fulfils all terms of the Eurasian economic union,” he said. “But protection of individual interests does not contribute to the deepening and strengthening of integration as a whole.”

A few weeks ago, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev accused Kazakhstan, also a Eurasian Economic Union member, of reneging on a promise to build a new site on the border that would have allowed Kyrgyz producers to receive the necessary paperwork needed to export meat. He alleged that Kazakhstan was trying to prevent Kyrgyz meat imports to stamp out competition.

Like the rest of the Central Asia and South Caucasus region, Kyrgyzstan has been dealing with an economic downturn since 2014 linked to a fall in oil prices that triggered a recession in the Russian economy. Kyrgyz timing in joining the Eurasian Economic Union in August 2015 means that it has become even more tightly bound to Russia.

The Eurasian Economic Union includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Armenia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Kyrgyz econ minister slams Eurasian Economic Union

BISHKEK, OCT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Joining the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) has made conditions worse for Kyrgyz businesses, economy minister Arzybek Kozhoshev said in some of the harshest criticism so far levelled at the Kremlin-focused project.

Kyrgyzstan joined the EEU last August but has always been a reluctant partner — the other partners are Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Belarus — with businesses speaking out about the extra red tape and the risk of damaging important trade relations with China.

Now Mr Kozhoshev said that data showed extent of the damage.

“The first year in the EEU has not shown any positive results yet. Some economic indexes have worsened and export volumes have dropped,” Mr Kozhoshev said at a business forum.

“Textile exports dropped by 21.5% in the first half of the year compared to last year. Dairy products exports also fell by 24% in the same period. Our trade partners have created artificial barriers for our manufacturers.”

Kyrgyzstan’s economy has been under pressure, much like the rest of the region, but Mr Kozhoshev’s message was clear. Much of the problem, he said, was down to the EEU.

Coincidentally the two main architects of the EEU, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, were meeting in Astana for a Kazakhstan- Russia Business Forum. They had a very different take on the EEU.

During the session, Mr Nazarbayev lauded the EEU and encouraged all ministers to recount a positive story about the bloc.

“The Eurasian Economic Union is a key element in the revival of the Great Silk Road,” he was quoted by media as saying.

Some analysts in the West have said the driving force, and the Kremlin’s main aim, behind the EEU was political rather than economic.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Tajikistan plans EEU talks

JULY 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan could soon join the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union, Abdufattoh Goib, head of the Border Service, told local media. Mr Goib said the government had instructed officials to join EEU working groups to study access requirements. Earlier this month, Leonid Slutsky, chairman of CIS affairs at the Russian Duma, said that Tajikistan might join next year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 290, published on July 22 2016)

Kazakhstan to solve trade row with Ukraine

JULY 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Asset Asavbayev, director of transport at Kazakhstan’s ministry of industrial development, said Kazakhstan will step in to resolve a row between Russia and Ukraine that has stalled Ukrainian cargo in transit to Central Asia via Russian territory. On July 1, Russian border police enforced a transit ban for Ukrainian goods, citing a Eurasian Economic Union regulation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Border police stops Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan bound trucks

JULY 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Russian border police stopped 43 goods trucks travelling from Ukraine to Central Asia at the border with Belarus. The trucks were bound for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, but were stopped because of new Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) regulation that appears designed as a retaliation forWestern imposed sanctions on Russia. The EEU is a Russia-led economic bloc that includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Belarus.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

EEU plans single electricity market, say energy ministers after meeting in Tajikistan

JUNE 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Eurasian Economic Union, a trade bloc led by Russia but also involving Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia plans to set up a unified electricity market by 2019, EEU members’ energy ministers said after a meeting in Dushanbe. Tajikistan aspires to be part of the EEU, which critics have said is a Kremlin project to extend its control.

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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

EEU holds meeting in Kazakh capital

MAY 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — At a meeting in Astana, leaders of the Russia-backed Eurasian Economic Union delayed the establishment of a single energy market to 2025. Previously, the EEU’s plan was to roll out a barrier-free single market for oil and gas by 2024. The parties did not comment on the reasons for the delay.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)

EEU reschedules meeting due to Armenia-Azerbaijan fight in N-K

APRIL 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Eurasian Economic Union moved a meeting of its PMs scheduled for April 8 in Yerevan to Moscow because of fighting between Armenia-backed fighters and Azerbaijani forces over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Before the meeting was moved, Kazakh PM Karim Massimov had cancelled his trip to Armenia’s capital. The Moscow meeting will now be held on April 13.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)