Tag Archives: Eurasian Economic Union

Georgia sees no threat to bumper exports from EEU

TBILISI, APRIL 8 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) trade bloc has not damaged Georgia’s exports, Mariam Gabunia, head of the department for foreign policy at the Georgian economy ministry, told The Conway Bulletin in an interview.

Instead she said that Georgia was on course for a bumper year with exports rising strongly after a dip last year linked to tough economic conditions in Russia, Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Some analysts have said that the EEU, which is essentially a trade bloc including Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, would hurt those who didn’t sign up — including Georgia. Ms Gabunia, though, waived aside this notion.

“In general, we do not see any negative impact on Georgia’s trade with regard to the EEU,” she said. “We are part of the CIS free trade agreement and Belarus and Kyrgyzstan are part of it. On top of that we have bilateral FTA (free trade agreements) with Russia, Armenia and Kazakhstan.”

Ms Gabunia’s comments are important because it is one of the first times that a senior official from a government outside the EEU has commented on whether the bloc has hit regional trade. Many businesses within the bloc have been complaining that the extra bureaucracy and the bias towards the larger members have created problems.

Georgia is, to a large extent, still reliant on trade with its former Soviet neighbours. One of the biggest boosts to its economy over the past few years was repairing relations with Russia. Last year it was Georgia’s biggest export market with $200m of sales.

And Ms Gabunia said that bilateral agreements made in the 1990s underpinned Georgia’s trade within the former Soviet Union, taking precedence over EEU rules.

“According to the legislation of the EEU the FTA that were concluded before the creation of the EEU will stay in force. and we had FTA with all these countries before the EEU was created,” she said.

This year has started strongly, mainly because of much improved macroeconomic conditions in Georgia and the rest of the region. Ms Gabunia said that trade relations with Russia had improved along with political relations.

“As far as concerns the other EEU members, the situation is improving,” she said.

“Exports to Belarus increased by 61% in the first two months of 2017, for example.”

According to Geostat, Georgia’s biggest exports are copper ore, ferroalloys, wine, medicines and cars.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Kyrgyzstan hosts Eurasian presidency

MARCH 7 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan hosted its first meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, part of the system that runs the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), as it officially took over the rotating presidency of the trade bloc. Kyrgyzstan’s presidency of the EEU comes at a time when the organisation has become increasingly unpopular, especially in Kyrgyzstan, over sluggish economic growth rates. The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council is attended by PMs.

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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)f

 

Kyrgyz president complains about Kazakhstan

FEB. 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with Euronews, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev directly criticised his neighbour Kazakhstan for imposing what he described as an economic blockade in 2010. He was discussing why Kyrgyzstan joined the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union, a trade group that has grown unpopular in Kyrgyzstan. Kazakhstan responded to the accusation of an economic blockade by filing an official complaint. Relations between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have become fraught over trade rows.

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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)

Kazakhstan’s trade with EEU falls by 21%

JAN. 16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s trade with the rest of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) fell by 21% last year, the Kazakh Security Committee said, highlighting a general contraction in the Kremlin-led block’s economy. Most of the decrease was linked to Russia. Last week, Kyrgyzstan also reported a drop in trade with EEU members.

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(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Data shows Kyrgyz trade with EEU has fallen

BISHKEK, JAN. 11 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s trade with other members of the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) fell 18.6% in the first 10 months of 2016, the Russian news website gazeta.ru quoted an unnamed source at the Kyrgyz statistics committee as saying.

This data, if confirmed when the official statistics are released, highlights Kyrgyz officials’ concerns that joining the EEU has had a negative impact on its trade. They have said that the EEU favours the larger countries and has hampered Kyrgyzstan’s trade with China.

“In the first 10 months of 2016, trade turnover, the import-exports of Kyrgyzstan, with the EEU member states comprised of $1.575b,” the unnamed source said. “Compared to the same period in 2015, this figure was 81.4%, in other words it was a drop of 18.6%.”

The data also goes against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s insistence that Kyrgyzstan’s trade turnover has increased since it joined the EEU.

Last month in a very public show of his frustration with the EEU, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev delayed signing a key customs agreement between the five member states at a ceremony in St Petersburg.

Kyrgyzstan joined the EEU in August 2015 but its businessmen and MPs have complained of excessive bureaucracy and barriers to trading with China that the EEU has imposed.

Many analysts said Kyrgyzstan had been coerced into joining the EEU.

The other EEU member states are Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia.

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(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)

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.

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(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.

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(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.

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(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.

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(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.

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