Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan is the first success in CIS integration, EBRD says
The Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan is the first successful example in regional economic integration between countries of the former Soviet Union, according to EBRD economists.
The new survey has assessed early evidence of what the new Customs Union, created within the Eurasian Economic Community, has achieved in the two years since the introduction of common external tariffs.
The EBRD’s Transition Report 2012, “Integration Across Borders”, published today, assesses the general economic impact of integration, as well as analysing in a separate chapter the proposed European Banking Union and the impact that this may have on the rest of the EBRD region.
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia agreed to establish the Customs Union in November 2009. While many benefits of the union remain to be seen, it is clear that common tariffs and reduced non-tariff barriers are affecting trade both internally, between the three members, and externally with the rest of the world.