Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Belarus, Alexander Surikov, said that the creation of the Customs Union and formation of a single customs territory will allow Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan to resist the pressure of third countries. "In this situation, we can develop harmoniously and rapidly", the diplomat said.
«Joining the three markets, we will get a single, very strong market with a number of consumers of 170 million people and can effectively resist the external expansion», Alexander Surikov stressed in an interview to «Respublika» newspaper.
According to Russian diplomat, the Customs Union is also created in order to fill «their own market with their goods». «Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have huge reserves, in this sense. And therefore, if all parties understand it correctly, there will not be any contradictions between them, the Customs Union has good prospects», the ambassador believes, adding that country-members of the Customs Union should take into account the experience of the European Union, its achievements, failures and weaknesses.
«Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan have a high-tech, competitive industrial base. Our target is to assure our countries’ needs, assembling correctly these components «, Alexander Surikov stressed.
Russian ambassador also reminded that at the beginning of this year, «about 600 positions of nearly 12 thousand goods- which have to move to the Customs Union», — were not endorsed . «Now all these endorsements are in the process of approval. In the full sense, the Customs Union on the flank with the UE will start to work from July 1, 2010. On the flank with China — from July 1, 2011», the diplomat concluded.
