BISHKEK (TCA) — Entry into the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) would be advantageous for Tajikistan but the country is not yet ready for such format of cooperation, Novosti-Kazakhstan news agency reported citing Gennady Chufrin, a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization for regional economic integration. The EEU provides for free movement of goods, services, capital and labor in its member countries, which now include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.
“Any form of Tajikistan’s association with the Eurasian Economic Union would be advantageous for both sides, but it is early to talk about full-fledged membership, because Tajikistan now has no legal basis comparable to the package of agreements adopted by the EEU member states,” Chufrin said.
“Tajikistan’s accession would take a quite long period of time, as Kyrgyzstan’s accession of the EEU has showed that it was a long process,” he explained.
The expert believes that Kyrgyzstan’s scenario would be repeated by Tajikistan, whose economy is now closely connected to China.
In case of joining the EEU, Tajikistan would be able to solve employment problems of its migrant workers in Russia and Kazakhstan.
Tajikistan’s Avesta news agency reported with reference to Abdufattokh Goib, the head of Tajikistan’s Customs Service, that the government of Tajikistan is considering the country’s accession of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Goib told a news conference in Dushanbe on July 19 that the Government had been submitted all the necessary materials and a thorough analysis of the issue.
Earlier this month, Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Committee of CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots in the Russian Duma (lower house of Parliament) said that Tajikistan would soon announce its intention to join the EEU.
Slutsky then said that Tajikistan is interested in joining the EEU “more than any other CIS country”.
