12 december 2008

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held a press conference following the meeting of the EurAsEC Interstate Heads of Government Council

Vladimir Putin

At a press conference following the meeting of the EurAsEC Interstate Heads of Government Council

Participants:
"There is no doubt that consolidation of business partnerships, and implementation of major initiatives will promote the region's economic stability and sustainable development."

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Let me begin. 

I'd like to say up front that our meeting was businesslike and constructive as always. We have mapped out further measures to improve the organisation, accelerate integration, and promote trade, economic, and humanitarian cooperation.

Interesting ideas and specific proposals were offered during the meeting. I'm convinced that today's decisions will improve the socio-economic situation in every EurAsEC country.

I'd like to emphasize the importance of speeding up the formation of the Customs Union of the Troika: Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. The sides have signed a cohesive package of agreements for developing regulating standards, including rules for applying common customs tariffs.

In the Five's format, we had to deal with strategic tasks requiring a concerted effort. Today, we reached major agreements on energy, a common insurance market, technical regulations, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

There is no doubt that consolidation of business partnerships, and implementation of major initiatives will promote the region's economic stability and sustainable development.

We have exchanged opinions on the world economic crisis. The main task here is to protect our citizens against the negative impact of violent fluctuations on the global markets. Obviously, this task will require not only energetic national efforts, but also stronger EurAsEC coordination.

In conclusion, I'd like to note that the colleagues supported our proposal to hold the next meeting of the EurAsEC Interstate Heads of Government Council in Moscow next year. We are hoping that we will have considerably strengthened our organisation's potential by that time.

Thank you for your attention.

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Question: Was Uzbekistan's EurAsEC membership suspended at the meeting?

Vladimir Putin: We made this decision in response to Uzbekistan's request to suspend its EurAsEC membership.