MOSCOW, October, 9. Armenia will join the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan on January 1, 2015, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov told reporters on Thursday.

The corresponding agreement will be signed in Minsk on October 10 at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the official added. The meeting will also discuss the expansion of co-operation with Vietnam, Israel, India and Egypt, Ushakov said.
“It is planned to sign the agreement on Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union so that Armenia could become the Union’s full-fledged member from January 1, 2015,” the official said. According to him, the meeting participants will also “analyze the fulfilment of the roadmap for Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the Customs Union.” The Kremlin official said this roadmap is to be “supplemented with a new document — the program of measures for adapting Kyrgyz legislation to the common economic space requirements.”  “The leaders will specially consider issues of the Union’s interaction with foreign partners, as a number of countries have displayed not a formal, but practical interest in the expansion of co-operation with the Union,” Ushakov said. “The negotiations on the free trade zone creation with Vietnam are at the advanced stage, and expert groups for the preparation of similar agreements with Israel, India and Egypt have been formed,” he added. “This work is gaining momentum,” the Kremlin official said.
The presidential aide recalled that the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus agreed to ensure synchronisation of the ratification of the Eurasian Economic Union Agreement to put it in effect, as agreed, from January 1, 2015. “On October 3, the Agreement was ratified by Russia, today it is ratified by Kazakhstan and we also expect Minsk to ratify it today,” Ushakov said. According to him, the Minsk meeting on October 10 will be attended by the presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. It will be their fourth meeting this year. The Kremlin official said the heads of state would agree on holding another summit – in Moscow in December. He said some 50 regulatory acts are to be adopted before the Eurasian Economic Union starts functioning.

Eurasian Economic Union Treaty
The agreement is the basic document defining the accords between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan for creating the EEU for free movement of goods, services, capital and workforce and conducting coordinated, agreed or common policies in key sectors of the economy, such as energy, industry, agriculture and transport. It stipulates transition of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to the next stage of integration after the Customs Union and the common economic space.  The Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union stipulates customs and technical regulation, foreign trade policies and measures to protect the internal market. The agreement envisages transition to common customs tariffs. The agreement also stipulates principles of coordinated macro-economic and foreign exchange policies, financial market regulation, interaction in the energy and transport sectors, development of a common gas, oil, petroleum product, medicines and medical equipment market.  The treaty’s provisions also cover such areas as intellectual property and state purchases, industry, agriculture and labor migration. The document also regulates informational interaction within the union. The document defines the Russian language as the union’s working language. The treaty also stipulates that the Eurasian Commission will be headquartered in Moscow, the Eurasian Economic Union Court in Minsk and the financial regulator in Almaty. The document says that the union is open for accession by any state sharing the union’s goals and principles on the terms agreed by the member countries. The document stipulates a 10-year period for the union’s member states to fully harmonize their national legislatures.

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