OREANDA-NEWS. The Eurasian Economic Union will be a new stage of integration, Belarus' First Vice Premier Vladimir Semashko said in a speech at the business forum of the Single Economic Space entitled “The Eurasian Economic Union: Business Expectations” held in Minsk on May 31.

Referring to the Customs Union, which one of the milestones on the way towards the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Semashko admitted that the Customs Union changed the economies of the CU participant states, as there are no customs formalities in mutual trade. The Customs Union saw a 34.5% rise in mutual trade in 2011, followed by an 8.7% rise in 2012. According to Semashko, Belarus saw a 12.6% rise in trade within the CU framework.

In turn, member of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Board for Industry and Agriculture Sergey Sidorski referred to complains of CU manufacturers about Belarus' closing its market of farming machinery.

“The WTO does not ban national manufacturers from laying down their own rules of the game: increase the customs tariff on farming machinery, for instance. Business people understand that the move is intended to stimulate competition inside the Customs Union, but we hear complains about high barriers, which prevent access to our common market. But there are assemble ventures of John Deere and Claas in Russia, while Belarus has its own manufacturers,” Sidorski said.

The business forum was organized by the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Economy Ministry of Belarus, the Union of Non-Profit Organizations.