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Vladimir Putin: Dear Aleksandr Grigorievich!

Dear colleagues, dear friends!

This summit’s agenda includes a number of extremely important issues connected with our present work and the further development of our Community.

I am not exaggerating when I say that today the Eurasian Economic Community is developing extremely dynamically. As a matter of fact, it is the main force behind economic integration in the CIS.

All the national economies of the Community’s member states have steady growth rates. And this positive tendency is proof of our steady progress – from a free trade regime and customs union to a common economic space.

Merging the Eurasian Economic Community and the Central Asian Cooperation Organisation will undoubtedly have a positive effect. Uniting the potential of the two organisations eliminates unnecessary overlap and helps ensure sufficient coordination within a common space.

The fact that Uzbekistan joined the Community marks a significant step forward in the Community’s development. It will help us accomplish many varied tasks in Central Asia.

I think that in light of the Eurasian Economic Community’s expansion, increasing the organisation’s effectiveness is key.

First and foremost, I am referring to creating a customs union with common regulation for foreign trade. This will take place within the larger process of forming a common economic space within the Community. I shall emphasize that we consider forming a customs union to be absolutely crucial and are bent on quickly completing this union.

I am convinced that the effectiveness of the Eurasian Development Bank must act as a determining and stimulating factor that will help strengthen our cooperation.

Establishing this bank created ample opportunities for investments and real mechanisms that will enable us create concrete large-scale projects to develop the infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Community. First and foremost this concerns energy, water, transport systems and the high-tech field. Within the organisation we are also planning joint work in information technology, biotechnology, medicine, the environment and also in important industries such as mining, metallurgy and petrochemistry.

I shall remind you that this bank was created by the Russian Federation and by Kazakhstan. The nominal capital is quite large, we invested decent money – Russia invested one billion USD and Kazakhstan 500 million USD. We have completed all the procedures and we can now think about how to best use this instrument.

I want to emphasize cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Community and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation. It is not by chance that these two summits, whose participants are similar, are being held on the same day. They are determinant factors in ensuring integration and security on the territory of the former Soviet Union. They act as examples of effective models of cooperation between states that have common interests and goals.

I am convinced that today steady economic development is impossible without sufficient security. In connection with this, closer cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Community and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation is one of the most pressing tasks that will help protect integration from various threats. And today during a discussion in a restricted format it was perfectly visible how closely connected our economic, integration and security interests really are.

The Concept for Eurasian Economic Community’s International Activities will also help accomplish these goals. Confirming this document will represent an important step in deepening partner relations both within the Community and with other international organisations, including the CIS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

I hope that the decisions made today will have a positive effect on integration within the Community. They will open new opportunities for the development of our national economies. And this means that they will directly work in the interests of our citizens and their well-being.

And in conclusion, as I take on the torch, the presidency of the EurAsEC – we also talked about this today – I would like to thank Aleksandr Grigorievich Lukashenko on behalf of all my colleagues for the work he has done and the important contribution he has made towards developing integration in Eurasia.

Thank you very much for your attention.