Tweet
ARMENIA'S ACCESSION TO CUSTOMS UNION MUST BE PRECEDED BY WORKING OUT ROAD MAP, EXPERT SAYS
YEREVAN, September 12. / ARKA /. Armenia's accession to the Customs
Union must be preceded by drawing up a roadmap that will take into
account its political and economic realities and will give also an
answer to a question what it will gain from its membership, Alexander
Markarov, director of the Armenian branch of the CIS Institute,
said today during a Yerevan-Moscow video conference.
"Armenia's decision to join the Customs Union has caused positive
emotions and the need for critical reflection on this issue by
taking into account the objective political and economic situation
in Armenia," said Makarov.
According to him, one should take into account such factors as lack of
common borders between Armenia and a Customs Union member country,
energy policies and also the fact that Armenia had sought close
integration with EU.
Makarov added that the decision to join the Customs Union is political
adopted in view of a hierarchy of priorities that include also elements
of economic cooperation.
This view was shared by the director of the Caucasus Institute,
political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan, who said not everything
is so simple with the Customs Union as it may seem.
"The decisions taken in Moscow are political and I'm afraid they have
no alternatives. To ensure that they crystallize into a specific
interaction between Armenia and Russia within the framework of
the Customs Union there should be a process of harmonization,"
Iskandaryan said.
He said the Customs Union is a fairly large number of agreements on
tariff regulations, borders, movement of goods, with a pretty large
number of different exceptions. The Customs Union, in his opinion,
was designed for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, which all are quite
different from Armenia : with Russia and Kazakhstan being oil-producing
and exporting countries, while Armenia imports energy resources.
"The union must develop agreements that would be acceptable for
Armenia. It is of course a technical or bureaucratic way, as the
political decision was made and announced by presidents, and as
I understand it, Armenia will soon be formally invited to join the
Customs Union , however, it will take some time and some reconciliation
work," he stressed.
Alexander Skalkov from the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian
Academy of Sciences emphasized that there is no roadmap yet and it
is not clear when it may be worked out. He argued that no road map
was worked out for Armenia either to sign the association agreement
with EU.
"I can only express hope that this roadmap will appear after all
and that it will take into account the interests of all the members
of the Customs Union and Armenia and that in future the focus
will shift from politics to economy," he said. -0- - See more at:
http://arka.am/en/news/politics/armenia_s_accession_to_customs_union_must_be_prece ded_by_working_out_road_map_expert_says/#sthash.gzUFkGha.dpuf
YEREVAN, September 12. / ARKA /. Armenia's accession to the Customs
Union must be preceded by drawing up a roadmap that will take into
account its political and economic realities and will give also an
answer to a question what it will gain from its membership, Alexander
Markarov, director of the Armenian branch of the CIS Institute,
said today during a Yerevan-Moscow video conference.
"Armenia's decision to join the Customs Union has caused positive
emotions and the need for critical reflection on this issue by
taking into account the objective political and economic situation
in Armenia," said Makarov.
According to him, one should take into account such factors as lack of
common borders between Armenia and a Customs Union member country,
energy policies and also the fact that Armenia had sought close
integration with EU.
Makarov added that the decision to join the Customs Union is political
adopted in view of a hierarchy of priorities that include also elements
of economic cooperation.
This view was shared by the director of the Caucasus Institute,
political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan, who said not everything
is so simple with the Customs Union as it may seem.
"The decisions taken in Moscow are political and I'm afraid they have
no alternatives. To ensure that they crystallize into a specific
interaction between Armenia and Russia within the framework of
the Customs Union there should be a process of harmonization,"
Iskandaryan said.
He said the Customs Union is a fairly large number of agreements on
tariff regulations, borders, movement of goods, with a pretty large
number of different exceptions. The Customs Union, in his opinion,
was designed for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, which all are quite
different from Armenia : with Russia and Kazakhstan being oil-producing
and exporting countries, while Armenia imports energy resources.
"The union must develop agreements that would be acceptable for
Armenia. It is of course a technical or bureaucratic way, as the
political decision was made and announced by presidents, and as
I understand it, Armenia will soon be formally invited to join the
Customs Union , however, it will take some time and some reconciliation
work," he stressed.
Alexander Skalkov from the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian
Academy of Sciences emphasized that there is no roadmap yet and it
is not clear when it may be worked out. He argued that no road map
was worked out for Armenia either to sign the association agreement
with EU.
"I can only express hope that this roadmap will appear after all
and that it will take into account the interests of all the members
of the Customs Union and Armenia and that in future the focus
will shift from politics to economy," he said. -0- - See more at:
http://arka.am/en/news/politics/armenia_s_accession_to_customs_union_must_be_prece ded_by_working_out_road_map_expert_says/#sthash.gzUFkGha.dpuf