BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

13/06/2009

Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan to create customs union by mid-2011

LECCE, Italy, June 13 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will complete the creation of a customs union by the middle of 2011, Russian Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Saturday.

After that the three countries will begin accession talks with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to join it together within the customs union.

"The mechanisms of talks between the three countries and the WTO has not been determined yet," Kudrin said.

He expressed confidence that 90 percent of what Russia has achieved at the talks with the WTO will be included in the new agreement.

"Russia conducted negotiations on reasonable enough conditions," he added.

Kudrin believes that "the position of Kazakhstan and Belarus will be close to the position of Russia," adding that this will require new protocols.

The first consultations on the customs union's accession to the WTO will begin in Geneva next week, head of the Russian delegation for the WTO accession talks Maxim Medvedkov, who in charge of the department of trade negotiations at the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, told Itar-Tass.

Formal negotiations on the accession of three member countries to the WTO will begin after January 1, 2010, Kudrin said.

The customs union consists of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Source:

http://www.mosnews.com/weird/2009/06/13/frogtunnel/

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