The Eurasian Union – much potential, little results

............................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 4 1 Institutional framework ................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) ........................................................................... 5 1.2 Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC)............................................................................ 5 1.3 Eurasian Customs Union (EACU or ECU) .............................................................................. 5 1.4 Common Economic Space (CES) or Single Economic Space (SES) ...................................... 6 1.5 Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU or EEU) ............................................................................ 6 2 Trade barriers .................................................................................................................................. 6 2.1 Import tariffs ............................................................................................................................ 6 2.2 Non-tariff barriers .................................................................................................................... 8 3 Foreign trade and foreign direct investment ................................................................................... 9 3.1 Comparison of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus ...................................................................... 9 3.2 Russia ..................................................................................................................................... 10 3.1.1 Exports ......................................................................................................................... 10 3.1.2 Imports ......................................................................................................................... 11 3.3 Kazakhstan ............................................................................................................................. 12 3.1.3 Exports ......................................................................................................................... 12 3.1.4 Imports ......................................................................................................................... 13 3.4 Belarus .................................................................................................................................... 14 3.1.5 Exports ......................................................................................................................... 14 3.1.6 Imports ......................................................................................................................... 16 3.5 Foreign direct investments ..................................................................................................... 16 4 Concluding remarks ...................................................................................................................... 19 References .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Books and articles ......................................................................................................................... 20 Reports .......................................................................................................................................... 21 Media ............................................................................................................................................. 21 Appendices ......................................................................................................................................... 23 Riku Niemi The Eurasian Union – much potential, little results Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition 3 BOFIT Policy Brief 1/2016 www.bof.fi/bofit_en Riku Niemi The Eurasian Union – much potential, little results Abstract Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus established the Eurasian Customs Union in 2010. Five years later, it became the Eurasian Economic Union. External tariffs have been harmonised and some internal trade barriers have been tackled. Most notably, internal border controls had been abolished by July 2011. This policy brief brings together facts and data on recent changes in trade-related institutions, trade barriers and trade flows across the internal and external borders of the Union. Trade barriers and flows are analysed at the level of product categories. The purpose is to identify the countries and sectors where the greatest trade creation or diversion is likely to have taken place and whether notable changes can be observed.