Interest In Eurasian Economic Union Growing Amid Anti-Russia Sanctions - Official

Interest in Eurasian Economic Union Growing Amid Anti-Russia Sanctions - Official

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2019) The interest in cooperating with the Eurasian Economic Union is increasing amid existing sanctions imposed on Russia, Eurasian Economic Commission Assistant Minister for Integration and Macroeconomics Fedor Chernitsyn told reporters at a business conference.

"Interest in cooperation with the union is only growing," Chernitsyn said Tuesday. "Chinese, Singaporean, South Korean businesses happily occupy those niches that have been vacated in our markets."

He pointed out that sanctions have a very negative impact, including on the European Union. But Asian businesses have filled in the gaps and replaced European import, which is the "fundamental, historic" consequence of sanctions, he added.�

"We have assessed that since the introduction of the sanctions, the European Union has lost about $300 billion. Since 2016, we are seeing another trend that if before we had the European Union as the first export and import partner, now Asian countries are in the first place," Chernitsyn said.

The official explained that only one out of five Eurasian Economic Union members is under the EU sanctions regime, which represents a challenge for the union as a whole.

"We have done a lot of work to ensure that partners do not suffer from those restrictions," Chernitsyn added.

In 2014, relations between Russia and the West deteriorated over the former's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian conflict and Crimea's reunification with Russia. The European Union have since imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia's energy, banking, defense and other sectors, as well as on a number of Russian officials. Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations and reacted with countermeasures against the Western nations.

The EAEU is an economic bloc comprising Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. It aims to encourage regional economic integration through the free movement of goods, services, and people within the union.

Chernitsyn notes that as of today there are no new applications from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member states to join the union.