Vladimir Putin’s opening address:

Colleagues,

Today we will look into a number of important EurAsEC issues. We will focus particularly on the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space as genuine driving forces behind our economic cooperation. Let me remind you that the point of establishing the EurAsEC was precisely to promote such integration.

We will hear more on the Customs Union’s current operations and an update on the progress in establishing the Common Economic Space. I believe this subject is very important for all of us – particularly in light of the keen interest shown by our partners in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in joining us.  We welcome such interest. I am convinced that the collaborative efforts within the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space will lend support to all aspects of our cooperation and propel it to a whole new level. We will also monitor joint crisis relief efforts undertaken by EurAsEC members.  I would like to note that, even amid economic turmoil, the relationships within this organisation functioned quite effectively.

Our joint response to the crisis, including the establishment of the Anti-Crisis Fund, helped us stall the recession, bring down inflation, and head off a sharp decline in trade between our countries. We did not just promptly develop and implement collective response measures. We also reaffirmed our cohesion as an organisation and displayed a constructive approach based upon mutual responsibility. This only further testifies to EurAsEC’s potential, the importance of its integration resources for securing the interests of our national economies, and their fast and sustainable growth.

We have a very busy agenda today. Almost all the issues that we will discuss have been addressed and approved by experts. I suggest that we begin with the extremely important issue of the EurAsEC court. This court is designed to enhance the efficiency and reliability of our community’s structures and raise the level of trust and interest of external economic partners. We discussed this issue during our meeting in St Petersburg in November 2010 and decided that we needed a body dedicated to solving disputes both in the interests of our member states and the third parties that are engaged in economic activity in the territory of the Customs Union.

We will also look into financial matters during this meeting. I would like to focus on the salaries of the EurAsEC integration committee secretariat employees and employees of the Customs Union commission. I believe that we should schedule our next meeting for autumn 2011. We decided to hold it in St Petersburg in October. We will determine the exact date out of session. We will be glad to see you in Russia. I suggest that we begin our work.

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The group photo of the heads of the delegations was taken prior to the meeting.