Vladimir Putin’s opening remarks:

Ladies and gentlemen,

This past October, the Eurasian Economic Community marked ten years since its inception. In historical terms, this is not long, but we have achieved much in this short period of time. We created a solid foundation for advancing integration within EurAsEC, set up a Customs Union, and started the process of forming a common economic space. EurAsEC provides the foundation for all of these undertakings.

The main thing is that our decisions help our companies cooperate in a wide range of industries and use the advantages of integration to pursue new joint projects.

It is also important that the work of EurAsEC provides practical benefits to our countries’ citizens and helps deal with the consequences of the global financial and economic crisis.

During this inner meeting, we will discuss the key issues on the agenda of the EurAsEC Interstate Council and approve decisions that should give new momentum to the development of the community and to economic cooperation between member countries.

I think we can begin our discussion of the specific issues on our agenda now.