Vladimir Putin’s opening address:

Once again, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

We have just discussed the most significant issues across the agenda in a limited format. I suggest that we now hear a progress report on the implementation of collective measures by EurAsEC countries in overcoming the consequences of the global financial crisis. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin will deliver the report.

I would like point out that cooperation in EurAsEC played a significant role during the crisis in terms of stabilising our national economies. This only testifies to the community’s efficiency as one of the leading structures of international integration in Eurasia.

It is important that EurAsEC continues to develop. For example, last December we decided to establish a court system to ensure the protection of the interests of all economic entities engaged in trade and economic activity in the Customs Union. The EurAsEC Court is to begin its work on January 1, 2012. I believe that for all intents and purposes, the preparations for this event are going well.

It is worth mentioning that the Customs Union has already brought about significant and tangible results. Mutual trade between Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia has almost doubled since the Customs Union came into full effect last year. The Common Economic Space, founded upon the three states I just mentioned, will be another important step towards promoting deeper integration. By July 1, we plan to ratify the package of documents necessary for its coming into effect in January 2012.

I am convinced that a common market encompassing over 170 million people and $2 trillion in terms of aggregate capital will help us boost trade and economic cooperation and investment and expand production and R&D cooperation. Ladies and gentlemen, I am further convinced that this association will be attractive to other integration associations in Europe and the world. It will elevate the status of our economies – that much is apparent – above all in high tech and innovative sectors that manufacture goods with a high added value.

We should use the potential of integration in order to raise the competitiveness of all union members and secure an advantage in global markets. It is important that the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space remain open to new members. For example, our colleagues from Kyrgyzstan have already expressed their interest in joining these structures. We are receiving similar signals from our Tajik partners. At today’s limited attendance meeting, we agreed that the EurAsEC secretariat and corresponding agencies of the Customs Union would hold consultations with Kyrgyzstan to analyse the situation and chart its potential accession to the Customs Union.

I’m convinced that a common transport, energy, and information space will open new opportunities for business, trade, and investment, ensure sustainable growth in our national economies, reinforce our cultural ties, and eventually improve the living standards of our people. In the end, this is the essence and the objective of all integration processes, including in post-Soviet space.