Agency WPS
What the Papers Say. Part B (Russia)
September 16, 2004, Thursday

UKRAINE, KAZAKHSTAN, AND BELARUS: PROSPECTS OF UNIFICATION WITH
RUSSIA

SOURCE: Gazeta, September 16, 2004, pp. 1-2

by Pavel Aptekar

Addressing a summit of the Eurasian Economic Community in Astana,
Kazakhstan three months ago, President Vladimir Putin said, “Wise
people of all countries, unite.”

“Chauvinism, nationalism, personal ambitions of political
decision-makers, and simple, primitive stupidity” interfere with
integration, Putin said. He avoided any sharp statements at the
United Economic Zone summit yesterday (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and
Kazakhstan) even though the signing of the necessary documents has
been postponed by at least a year. Putin merely reminded CIS leaders
that establishment of the united Economic Zone could bring living
standards in the involved countries up to the European level.
Observers have many more hopes for Putin’s meetings with presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the authorities of Georgia.

The political establishment of the CIS gathered in Astana yesterday.
National leaders joined prime ministers and foreign ministers. Only
Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan and President Vladimir Voronin of
Moldova were absent. Today’s agenda for the CIS summit has been
revised: given the latest events in Russia, the summit will be
centered around the problem of terrorism.

Predictably enough, Putin, Leonid Kuchma, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and
Alexander Lukashenko postponed the decision to establish of the
United Economic Zone until July 1, 2005.

All the same, summit participants are quite optimistic. Kuchma is
convinced that the future United Economic Zone should become a center
of attraction for neighboring countries. “We have everything we need
for it,” said president of Ukraine. “Political stability alone is
needed.”

“A common financial system will be installed and operational 10 to 12
years from now,” Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan promised.

President Lukashenko of Belarus hopes that the common financial
system will be working even earlier than that, “God (or Allah)
willing.”

Still, Putin painted a particularly rosy picture. “Surpassing the
level of the average citizen of Europe in the sufficiently
foreseeable future is quite within grasp,” Putin said.

The negotiating parties agreed on some new integration initiatives.
Putin, Kuchma, Nazarbayev, and Lukashenko intend to ease border
crossing procedures for citizens of the countries comprising the
United Economic Zone and instructed their governments to draft
appropriate documents. There is no saying at this point how the
future accord will concur with the recent decree of the president of
Russia on the war on terrorism. The decree demands tighter procedures
of border crossing for citizens of CIS countries.

Nazarbayev’s idea of a space corporation was approved in Astana.
Governments of the four countries comprising the United Economic Zone
have before December 15 to formulate their proposals. Construction of
the Clipper, a manned shuttle, is to become the ultimate objective of
the corporation. With a crew of six, the Clipper is expected to
replace the Soyuz rocket family. Its design by the Energy Corporation
will be Russia’s contribution. Kuchma says that the Design Bureau
Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash factory will probably represent Ukraine in the
future corporation. Kazakhstan will provide the Baikonur, and Belarus
its “unique capacities in the sphere of optics.”

“This is going to be the first project leading to new ones in the
sphere of high-tech industry,” Nazarbayev said. Kuchma was more to
the point. “What we need is unification of specific capacities” to
enable the United Economic Zone to compete with the West in the
high-tech sphere, he said. Lukashenko was worried by the problem of
commercial competition too. “There are very many states in the World
Trade Organization whose goods are better than our counterparts in
quality and price,” he announced.

Actually, some lingering discord among participants in the future
United Economic Zone was undeniable. With a glance in Kuchma’s
direction, Lukashenko mentioned “a lack of political will” and added,
“If some country, say, Ukraine or Russia, joined the World Trade
Organization before the rest do, we can forget about the United
Economic Zone.”

Later that evening, Putin met with presidents of Azerbaijan and
Armenia Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharjan. Before that, Aliyev and
Kocharjan had a private conversation. Some experts tentatively assume
that the talks in Astana may provide a turning point in
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. A lot of hopes are also placed on
Putin’s talks with President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia.

Translated by A. Ignatkin