Putin’s answer to EU – Eurasian Union

[Inqhilab]

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands
after signing an agreement to create the Eurasian Economic Union in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.​

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have agreed to set up a full-fledged economic bloc that should act as a bridge between Europe and Asia and a counterweight to Western integration unions.

The Presidents of the three countries signed the Eurasian Economic Integration agreement on Thursday in the Kazakh capital of Astana.

When the Eurasian Economic Union comes into force on January 1, 2015, it will create a market of 170 million people, with a combined annual GDP of $2.7 trillion and a quarter of the world energy resources.

“Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have elevated their cooperation to a fundamentally new level, creating a common market with free movement of goods, services, capital and workforce,” Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said at the signing ceremony. “The ‘troika’ states will conduct a coordinated policy in the energy sector, industry, agriculture and transport.”

The establishment of the Eurasian Union crowns Mr. Putin’s decade-long efforts at re-integrating the post-Soviet states, but the conspicuous absence of Ukraine at the table in Astana marks his failure to draw the second largest economy of the erstwhile Soviet Union into the new bloc.

Ukraine has opted in favour of integration with Europe, with its newly-elected President Petro Poroshenko planning to sign an association pact with the European Union soon after his inauguration. The refusal of ousted President Victor Yanukovych to sign the pact triggered a major crisis and civil conflict in Ukraine.

Armenia is to join the Eurasia Union next month, and Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are next in line for admission.

India, along with Vietnam, New Zealand, Turkey, Israel and a number of other countries, have expressed a desire to sign free trade pacts with the Eurasian Union.

Mr. Putin said agreement was reached in Astana to set up “expert-level groups to work out preferential trade regimes with Israel and India.”

Putin’s answer to EU – Eurasian Union - The Hindu

 

[Reashot Xigwin]

West EU is still best EU.

 

[JayAtl]

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan OMG -- now that is an economic powerhouse ...err not

EU 16.6 trillion GDP and growing

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan " projected " at 2.7 trillion

 

[Tshering22]

It's just the beginning. Just give them time. And if EU is so confident, then let the Eurasians do their thing quietly.

 

[Mao1949]

Well done Russia and its Eurasian partners.

 

[JayAtl]

It's just the beginning. Just give them time. And if EU is so confident, then let the Eurasians do their thing quietly.

russian economy is all oil and gas without which they are screwed.

secondly, the environment is not conducive to growth in business. you have limited property rights, state can come and confiscate and shut your business down for any reason, you dissent with the government and the CEO's can be thrown in Jails...

that is what we would call a state that is NOT " conducive" to business...

 

[Oldman1]

Any country that joins the EU or shifting to the EU are Nazis in Putin's eyes.

 

[raptor22]

Any country that joins the EU or shifting to the EU are Nazis in Putin's eyes.

and vise versa ....

 

[Tshering22]

russian economy is all oil and gas without which they are screwed.

secondly, the environment is not conducive to growth in business. you have limited property rights, state can come and confiscate and shut your business down for any reason, you dissent with the government and the CEO's can be thrown in Jails...

that is what we would call a state that is NOT " conducive" to business...

Bro, as much as we would like to see, even the US is increasingly becoming that way. Other than established strong corporations, things have become tighter. This is not a figment of my imagination but told to me by a lot of good american friends whenever we have a talk.

Establishing no-fly zones over civilians, using drones to monitor people's activities, sending in armed federal agents like a commando raid on normal civilians (violator of law or not, they are not terrorists to send a 100 agents), forcing data companies to reveal data or suffer legal consequences..

How different is this from what is happening in Russia?

Do you really think that US government will take dissent quietly? As long as it is not violent, they will say 'right to say' once it gets aggressive, SWAT teams would take these elements down with force, claiming 'national security' risks.

_______________

What I am saying is that all of us are in the same boat. Just that reactions come in a different way there.

If you think that US is any softer, try taking your company against US government and tell me how liberal they are.