Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia

Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan
Political centres		Moscow Minsk Almaty Astana
Official languages		Russian
Member States		Belarus  Kazakhstan  Russia
Area
-	Total	20,007,860 km2  12,432,307 sq mi
Population
-	2010 estimate	167,454,573
-	Density	8.36/km2  13.46/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2009 (IMF) estimate
-	Total	$2.421 trillion
-	Per capita	$14,500
GDP (nominal)		2009 (IMF) estimate
-	Total	$1.391 trillion
-	Per capita	$8,306.73
Website tsouz.ru

The Customs Union between Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia came into existence on January 1, 2010.^[1] Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia are to go on with economic integration and are set to remove all customs borders between each other after July 2011.

• From January 1, 2012, the three states are expected to introduce the single economic space.
• Leaders of Tajikistan voiced their interest in potentially joining the union.
• Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych has stated that Ukraine may potentially join the Customs Union in the future, but that the Constitution of Ukraine currently does not allow that.^[2] On the other hand, he has also stated that Ukraine will not join the Customs Union.^[3] Ukraine is negotiating an association agreement with the European Union (EU), entering the customs union with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus would end the chances for this agreement according to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.^[4] Yanukovych wants to pursue EU membership for Ukraine.^[4] In May 2011 Yanukovych stated Ukraine is "searching for mechanisms of cooperation that will allow us to work with the customs union to the extent which Ukrainian laws and our obligations to world organizations such as the World Trade Organization allow”.^[4]
• Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus have launched a customs union as a first step towards forming a broader EU-type economic alliance of former Soviet states.
• In October 2011, the acting prime minister of Kyrgyzstan has announced that the country will join the union, and that the process has been agreed with the prime-ministers of the other member states. ^[5]
• On 19 November 2011 Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia put together a joint commission on fostering closer economic ties, planning to create a Eurasian Economic Union by 2015.^[6]

See also

• Regional organizations in the Post-Soviet space
• Union State
• Eurasian Economic Community
• Free trade areas in Europe
• European Union Customs Union
• Trade bloc
• Eurasian Union

References

1. ^ Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan Agree on Customs Union Saturday, 5 December 2009
2. ^ Ukraine may join Customs Union – Yanukovich Nov 26, 2010
3. ^ Ukraine will join neither NATO nor Customs Union with Russia, Yanukovych assures Tuesday 13 april 2010
4. ^ ^{a b c} Yanukovych Drives Ukraine Toward EU as Russian Natural Gas Agreement Looms, Bloomberg L.P. (May 25, 2011)
5. ^ http://rt.com/business/news/customs-union-kyrgyzstan-joins-205/
6. ^ "Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan sign pact". UPI. 19 November 2011. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/11/19/Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan-sign-pact/UPI-15221321748054/?spt=hs&or=tn. Retrieved 20 November 2011.