Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan vow to promote trade, economy

Presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan agreed in a meeting on Friday to promote trade within the framework of the Eurasia Economic Union (EEU).

The EEU faces serious challenges in 2015, which means regular coordination and joint reaction among the EEU members would be necessary, Kazakh President Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev said after the meeting.

"The current crisis was caused by a sharp drop of energy prices and the prices of our goods. For this reason, the trade turnover went down in the EEU ... Our task now is to reach agreements and discuss these issues efficiently," said Nazarbayev.

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the EEU members to discuss the possibilities of forming a monetary union in the future.

"This year we plan to reach more than 100 important agreements, including new Customs Code, the concept of forming common markets for electricity, gas, oil and oil products, international treaties concerning monetary, financial and social-economic spheres", said Putin after the meeting.

Meanwhile, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko believed that trade turnover in EEU can be increased if proper measures are taken.

"Our trade turnover went down considerably last year and this year, by 15 to 16 percent in the EEU. It's not a good tendency, although we see the reasons," Lukashenko said.

He said it is necessary to lift the barriers within EEU to increase the trade turnover. "It will be easier to increase trade turnover that way", he said. Endi