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President Vladimir Putin:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We had an exceptionally full programme today.

First of all, I would like to note the productive outcome of this meeting of the Eurasian Economic Community Inter-State Council and the inter-state agreements we have signed aimed at consolidating the legal foundations of the customs union. We have also approved a list of international agreements that will form the basis of the customs union, and a work programme for establishing the customs union within the Eurasian Economic Community by 2010.

I would like to note that the signing of these agreements creates the legal foundation that the customs union needs in order to begin operating in practice. This will happen once all the procedures and relevant documents set out in these basic agreements have been completed and signed, by 2010. This will make business contacts within the Eurasian Economic Community more effective and will help to strengthen overall economic stability in the region.

The transition to this new stage in integration is based on the agreements reached in August 2006 on the creation of a customs union between Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Community. The plan is that the Community’s other member countries will join the customs union when and as they are ready to do so.

I would also like to note that the Eurasian Economic Community has considerably expanded its international contacts over these last years. We all share the view that this is a positive trend and that we should consolidate it. Today, we approved the UN General Assembly draft Resolution on Cooperation between the United Nations and the Eurasian Economic Community. This issue is on the agenda for the 62 session of the UN General Assembly and we hope that the adoption of this resolution will help to further broaden the range of the Community’s partnership relations.

Regarding further consolidation of the Eurasian Economic Community’s positions on the international stage, our work continues in accordance with the recently approved concept for the Community’s international activities.

A traditionally important issue is that of energy sector relations between the Community’s member states. The Community’s Secretary General informed us today about work on two important projects: the concept for effective hydro-energy resource use in the Central Asian region, and the concept for forming a common energy market between the Community’s member states. These documents are currently both in the approval stage. We hope that their signature will enable our countries to achieve new successes in developing our energy dialogue and in practical cooperation in the energy sector. We all agreed that this work should be based on the principles and rules of international law and that top-level independent international experts should be involved.

Overall, this summit has once again confirmed that the Eurasian Economic Community is a robust and fast growing organisation. I am confident that the decisions and documents adopted in Dushanbe will help us to further develop the integration process within the Community. I note that we have taken a very important new step towards developing the integration process in the post-Soviet area.