No Customs Union single currency due to negative Union State experience

MOSCOW, 28 October (BelTA) – The matter of introducing a universal Customs Union currency is not raised due to the negative experience of the Union State. The statement was made by Viktor Spassky, Director of the Integration Development Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission, at the roundtable session held in Moscow on 28 October for experts and mass media to discuss the media image of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, BelTA has learned.

“The Union State has not been able to resolve the single currency issue, therefore the matter is not raised in the Customs Union,” said Viktor Spassky.

When the decision to set up the Customs Union was made, many achievements of the Union State were utilized for the new association. Among other things the Customs Union relies on making decisions by consensus the way it is done in the Union State.

According to the Eurasian Economic Commission representative, manufacturing cooperation ties, which have been developed by the Union State in the industrial sector and agribusiness, are successfully borrowed by the Customs Union. Thanks to that, since the Customs Union was established, Belarus’ export to Russia has increased by 2.4 times while Russia’s export to Belarus has risen by 1.6 times. Apart from that, in the last three years Belarus-Kazakhstan trade in agricultural products skyrocketed by ten times.

The official remarked that the Customs Union also utilizes the experience of other integration associations. In particular, the European Union’s model for a supranational body has been used.