Russia for a close knit economic alliance

• Twenty years after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia has moved decisively to reintegrate former Soviet states in a closely knit economic alliance.
• On January 1, a Common Economic Space (CES) comprising Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus came into force.
• The CES takes the integration process a big step forward. It provides for free movement of goods, services, capital and labour in the three-cornered union. The real breakthrough is the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) which will monitor the compliance of the member-states with the rules of the CES, and the CES Court for resolving business disputes.
  
• Day-to-day work of the EEC with a staff of 800 will be handled by the Board chaired in rotation by representatives of the member-states. The Commission will also have an upper tier, the EEC Council, consisting of three Deputy Prime Ministers delegated by the member-states, and the apex body, the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, which will consist of the heads of state and government.
• By 2015, the Common Economic Space is to be upgraded to the Eurasian Union, a full-fledged economic bloc, modelled on the European Union, with a common currency, harmonised legislation, and closely coordinated economic and monetary policies. The Eurasian Union will be open to other countries, both inside and outside the former Soviet Union. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have already applied, and Russia is actively courting Ukraine.
• The CES union has created a common market of 170 million people with a $2.55-trillion economy, $900-billion trade and 90 billion barrels of oil reserves. It is the world's largest union in terms of territory and the sixth biggest in terms of GDP. Experts have estimated that membership in the CES will generate additional 15 to 17 per cent growth rates in each of the member-states over the next 10 years. Trade within the Customs Union grew by nearly $20 billion, or more than 43 per cent in the 10 months of 2011.