YEREVAN. – Between 2007 and 2012, the leaders of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed the agreement on establishing the Customs Union, Zhamanak daily reports.   

“[Back] in 1995, the idea was to create something similar to the European Union [EU].

“[But] shortly thereafter, it became clear that it is impossible to create something like the EU model with countries that do not have developed market institutions.  

“That is why the solely meaningful thing of the 2007 version became the provision aimed at keeping the member countries as far away as possible from the EU. 

“If the supreme body of the union decides, the Customs Union countries can enter other economic zones together only. Kazakhstan cannot conduct free trade with China, for example, if Russia does not want [it]; there is no such restriction in the EU model.   

“And the EU has understood very well that the Customs Union is Russia’s attempt to stop the European integration of the former USSR countries,” Zhamanak writes.    

To note, as a result of the talks that were held on September 3 in Moscow between Armenian and Russian Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin, it was announced that Armenia plans to join the Customs Union and subsequently engage in the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union.