EEU Member States Concerned Over Mutual Trade Flow Decline

Russia's deputy prime minister said the Eurasian Economic Union was seeking ways to reverse the decline in trade.

ASTANA (Sputnik) — The decline in mutual trade turnover between the Eurasian Economic Union's (EEU) member states is a source of concern for EEU countries, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Tuesday.

"In value terms, the trade turnover is falling; in volume terms, the commodity exchanges are growing in many ways but as mutual trade is calculated in US dollars, we can see some decline. This worries all the EEU heads of state. Governments and the [Eurasian Economic] Commission were instructed to examine the issue, and to analyze and propose measures that will strengthen the mutual trade within the EEU," Shuvalov said.

Earlier in May, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) integration and macroeconomic policy minister, Tatiana Valovaya, said the volume of mutual trade between EEU countries in 2015 decreased by 26 percent.

The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization for economic integration launched in 2015, which has Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia as its member states.