KAZAKHSTAN SAYS CUSTOMS UNION WITH RUSSIA, BELARUS DUE IN 2009

RIA Novosti
20:59 | 04/ 02/ 2009

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.