Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus to join WTO as a single customs space ? Shukeyev

The three countries held negotiations on joining the Customs Union concurrently with the talks on entry into the WTO. Today the heads of the governments announced about termination of the separate negotiations on joining the WTO held of each country. According to U. Shukeyev, this decision is an optimal variant for the three states, as producers of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus are adapted to the market with 180 million of consumers. If each country joins the WTO and opens its borders, competitiveness of enterprises can reduce. Thus the sides agreed to join the organization as a single customs space. In this context, they will submit a correspondent application to the WTO.