LEADERS OF SIX EX-SOVIET STATES MEET IN RUSSIAN BLACK SEA PORT FOR CUSTOMS, ENERGY TALKS

AP Worldstream
Aug 16, 2006

President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of five other ex-Soviet
states gathered on the Black Sea for three days of talks on forming
a customs union and a common energy market.

Leaders from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
joined Putin in the port of Sochi on Tuesday for discussions on
developing that the Eurasian Economic Community _ a grouping that
aims to restore economic ties after the 1991 Soviet collapse.

Proposals to be discussed included water energy regulation in Central
Asia and setting up a Eurasian hydroelectric consortium.

Armenia’s leader, Robert Kocharian, was attending the meeting as an
observer, as was Ukraine’s new prime minister, Viktor Yanukovych, on
his first trip abroad since being confirmed to the post by parliament
earlier this month.

Comments by Yanukovych _ whose policies are considered pro-Russian
_ will likely be seen as an indication of whether he will aim to
strengthen cooperation with Russia, even as Ukrainian President Viktor
Yushchenko tries to move his nation closer to the West.

Earlier Tuesday, Putin met for one-on-one talks with several of the
leaders, including Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Putin and Nazarbayev signed a series of agreements intended to
streamline customs tariffs and tariffs for transporting Kazakh cargo
via Russian railroad lines, Russian news agencies reported.