Azernews.Az

Three former Soviet republics that did not sign the agreement on creating a free trade zone in the Commonwealth of Independent States on Tuesday - Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan – disagreed with the clauses keeping in force export duties on key Russian goods, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said.

Putin told a news conference in St. Petersburg on Wednesday that Moscow had insisted on the restrictions, which pertain to the duties on energy resources, metals and a number of other goods. According to him, these goods represent "great fiscal interest" to the signatories of the free trade zone agreement.

"These are the types of goods whose sale allows us to significantly replenish our budget," Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

Moreover, he said, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan "had doubts" over issues concerning enforcement of customs regulations.

The free trade zone agreement was signed in St. Petersburg by the prime ministers of the other eight member states of the union of former Soviet republics - Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Moldova, and Tajikistan. Though Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan did not co-sign the deal, they asked for a few weeks to consider joining it.

Putin expressed hope that the three countries would join the free trade agreement by the end of 2011.

"I believe they have taken a break, but interests of economic nature will foster -- after relevant analysis – some of these countries’ joining the free trade zone by the year-end."

The Russian prime minister said at Tuesday’s meeting of CIS heads of government that the initiative aims to "lay new groundwork" for long-term trade and economic relations among CIS countries. Putin recalled that in 1994, CIS states signed an agreement to set up a free trade zone, but the document was not endorsed by the parliaments of most countries, including Russia. Work on a new agreement had been carried out for nearly ten years, he said.

The agreement is to simplify the legal framework of trade and economic relations among the signatories and replace a number of multilateral and about 100 bilateral documents regulating free trade.

The agreement eliminates export and import duties on a host of goods. It also contains a number of restrictions that will ultimately be phased out.

The deal will come into effect next year if it is ratified by the parliaments of the signatory countries.