At a meeting of the State Council, Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, stated that Russia intended to continue integration with Belarus and Kazakhstan in the framework of the Customs Union. "This alliance is hard-won. This is our strategic course. We do not turn away, on the contrary, we want to see the degree of our integration to get higher and higher", Russian leader stressed.
According to Russia’s head of state, at the time while forming the Customs Union there are some difficulties associated with the need to reconcile certain interests of member-countries, RIA Novosti informs. However, Medvedev expressed confidence that «we will reconcile them», noting that «there is nothing difficult».
Russian president also reminded the participants that when forming the Customs Union it was necessary to take into account the interests of Russian producers, particularly in the field of agriculture.
«We must understand right now what is to happen, for example, with our livestock sector, our poultry as a result of the Customs Union’s creation. Here I agree that it is necessary to calculate the balance, resulted by this union — due to Belarus’ opportunities, and, in general, because of the fact that we create unified and open market», Russian leader said.
The Customs Union of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan was launched on a tripartite basis from July 6, 2010, when the Customs Code of the CU entered into force on the territories of the three countries. It is planned to establish Common customs area on the territory of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan by July 1, 2011, when customs borders between the states must disappear.
It is expected that then, from January 1, 2012, there will be launched common economic space and will be cancelled all customs duties, and common business terms will be introduced on the territory of all three states.
