Kyrgyzstan aims to become full member of CU, EEU by 2015
By Aynur Jafarova
Kyrgyzstan aims to become a full member of the Customs Union, and hence the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) by January 1, 2015.
The news was announced by Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev in his congratulatory speech on the occasion of Independence Day on August 31, Kyrgyz Telegraph Agency reported.
He noted recently a lot of speculations have been made on Kyrgyzstan's membership to the Customs Union.
"I am convinced that this is a very correct and accurate decision, and there is no equivalent alternative to it. Either the country will face isolation, or get a powerful impetus for the socio-economic development. I want to emphasize that the countries of the Customs Union absolutely do not have any territorial claims against us. The levels of economic development and incomes of the population in them are several times higher than in our country. We will get a chance to pull up our performance to this bar," the president added.
Atambayev went on to add that Russia allocates funds to the membership of Kyrgyzstan to the Customs Union.
"I hope that the Jogorku Kenesh [Kyrgyz Parliament] will again thoroughly discuss all the arguments of "for" and "against" and support the set of documents on joining the Customs Union, which has already been approved by the government and will be submitted to the Parliament," Atambayev added.
The Kyrgyz government has approved a comprehensive list of draft laws necessary for the country's joining to the Customs Union and the EEU.
The agenda of the governmental meeting held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Djoomart Otorbayev, included the approval of 21 draft laws. During the meeting, the package of documents was unanimously supported by the members of the government.
Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Russia signed an agreement on the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) on May 29.
The agreement consists of four large sections, including about 1,000 pages, 28 chapters, 118 articles and 32 applications.
The main conditions to join the organization are as follow: having unified tariffs and technical regulations, harmonizing labor and immigration legislation and establishing a unified banking system.
The Customs Union was established in 2010. The purpose of the organization is to form a single customs territory within which no customs duties or economic restrictions are applied. The Single Economic Space of the Customs Union started operating on January 1, 2012.