OREANDA-NEWS. September 02, 2014. What certain western parties might have hoped for, namely a Kiev-style “revolution” in Kyrgyzstan, hostile towards Russia and the Customs Union and the pending formation of the Eurasian Economic Union as of upcoming January 1 including Kyrgyzstan and Armenia next to the three existing members Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, has simply not happened.

It is clear now that the Kyrgyz people, or at least an overwhelming majority among them, has come to realise that there is no way that Kyrgyzstan can revive its one-time abundant productivity except within a large open market space which the EEU is able to offer – in contrast to the European Union which can only turn the place into a dumping ground for western end products and services, thereby killing Kyrgyzstan’s economic clout, or what is left of it.
 
 “Kyrgyzstan is planning to join the Customs Union (CU) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) by the end of the year, China’s state news agency Xinhua in a report [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-08/12/c_126858454.htm] quoted Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev as stating on Monday last week following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi. “’Kyrgyzstan intends to develop firmly and consistently and to optimize relations with brotherly Russia, our strategic ally. We would like to join the Customs Union and Eurasian Economic Union by the end of the year,’ Atambayev was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. Putin, for his part, said issues concerning integration processes were discussed during the meeting, especially ‘issues related to Kyrgyzstan's move of joining the EEU and the CU. ‘We have many plans, such as investment plans especially in energy, and serious plans to develop cooperation in certain sectors. We have agreed long ago that we will see how work proceeds in all these directions,’ he was quoted by Interfax as saying. Also in the day, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov disclosed that Russia agreed to provide financial aid worth about 500 million U.S. dollars to support Kyrgyzstan's development and its integration into the CU. The roadmap for accession envisages Kyrgyzstan's entry into the CU and the EEU before Jan. 1, 2015, and efforts to avoid negative effects for its own economy and the CU member states.”
 
Cash accumulation within Russia
For the moment, most the effects look extremely positive indeed – not in the least because of Russia’s self-imposed import ban on core food and beverage products from the USA, Canada, Australia, Norway and the European Union, in response to a series of fund and asset freezing measures of Russia’s offshore capital accounts in the aforementioned countries. Russia’s state and private companies are now losing little time in returning their overseas cash and assets home – resulting in a cash accumulation within Russia and other jurisdictions considered safe. This in turn could provide countries like Kyrgyzstan with the necessary funding to get their industrial, agricultural and other productive sectors up and running again, in response to booming demand within the Russian Federation.

Signs of goodwill
Perhaps recalling the happy days under Gemal Abdel Nasser, Egypt has joined the chorus of the steadily expanding EEU as well. “Members of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are discussing the possibility of establishing a free-trade zone with Egypt, RIA Novosti quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as stating on Tuesday last week. ‘An important agreement was reached to establish cooperation between Egypt and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. We are now studying the possibility of creating a free-trade zone,’ Putin said after talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Sochi, a Russian Black Sea resort city. ‘We have agreed to ease access for Egyptian products to our market,’ Putin said. […] The two counties discussed creating free-trade zone between Egypt and the customs union in March, during a Joint Russian-Egyptian Commission on Trade and Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation meeting.”

Similar signs of goodwill have come from southeast Asia including China and Vietnam. This must have alarmed the European Union’s executive body, the European Commission. “Spokesman of the European Commission Peter Stano said that the EU started negotiations with third parties to persuade them to stop trading with Russia, as a response to Russia’s countermeasure of August 6,” RIA Novosti reported on August 13 – without adding any details. Nothing on the attempt has been heard of ever since – probably meaning a dead end move.