MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti) - A Customs Union
between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will be completed by the
end of 2009, the Kazakh president said on Wednesday.
Nursultan Nazarbayev told his Russian counterpart Dmitry
Medvedev during their meeting in Moscow that relations between
the two countries "are at a high level and we [Kazakhstan] are
devoted to integration."
"We are currently stepping up work on the Customs Union of
Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. We are doing everything
possible to make it happen this year," Nazarbayev said.
In October 2007, Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed a
package of agreements comprising the legal basis of the Customs
Union, including the formation of a commission, a common
customs zone and the order of membership.
The creation of the Customs Union is being carried out
within the framework of the EurAsEC organization, which
gathered for a summit on Wednesday in Moscow.
EurAsEC, established in 2000, is an international economic
organization comprising Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia
and Tajikistan. Three other former Soviet republics, Armenia,
Moldova, and Ukraine have observer status.
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