Putin Says Implementation of Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to be Postponed

According to a report on May 24, 2010 from the Moscow Times, Russian Prime Minister, Mr. Putin said on May 21, 2010 that, the customs union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan may not be able to enter all-sided formal implementation as of July 1, 2010 as scheduled.

On May 21, 2010, the conference of the transnational committee of the Eurasian Economic Community was held in St. Petersburg. During the conference, Mr. Putin, Prime Minister of Belarus and Prime Minister of Kazakhstan did not come to an agreement on several key issues, including Russian measures on protecting its automobile and aviation industry. As per Mr. Putin, 18 agreements have yet to be signed prior to July 1, 2010.

The members of the Eurasian Economic Community include Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, with Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine as observers.