Astana - The presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko and Nursultan Nazarbayev, have signed a treaty establishing the Eurasian Economic Union, an Interfax correspondent reported from the signing ceremony.
The national parliaments of the three countries will have to ratify the treaty before the end of 2014 in order to enable the Eurasian Economic Union to begin functioning from Jan. 1, 2015, creating conditions for the free movement of commodities, services, capital and the workforce between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Under the treaty, its signatories will pursue a coordinated policy in key economic sectors such as energy, industry, agriculture and transport.
The work on the treaty was launched in Nov. 2011, when the presidents of these three states adopted a declaration on Eurasian economic integration. The three leaders met in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on April 29, 2014 for the final round of consultations ahead of signing the Eurasian Economic Union Treaty.
