Economic Relations between Kazakhstan and Russia

Ñòðàíèöà: 21/33

Yet another sphere in which combining the efforts of all the interested parties is needed is the legal status of the Caspian Sea.

The position of the Republic of Kazakhstan on this issue is based on the need for an early drafting and signing of a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, of which a draft was worked out by the Kazakhstan foreign ministry and sent out to all the interested states as early as March 1994. Unfortunately, there has been no response to this initiative for quite a long time now, and the agreement on regional cooper­ation on the Caspian Sea issue is still at a standstill.

At the same time preserving this unique object of nature is a task that the present generation must be worthy of.

The events of the recent years thus prove conclusively the need to proceed to a new level of integration, which will fully conform to the vital needs of the peoples. International experi­ence shows that any interstate association goes through various states in its development, becoming enriched in the process with new forms of cooperation. The Eurasian Union should be seen as just one of such transitional forms capable of optimiz­ing the solution of the problems facing the Commonwealth.

From the time of the publication of the draft EAU project, politicians and scholars have been paying close attention to it. Four major scientific and practical conferences were devoted to this subject, as were hundreds of publications in Kazakh­stan, Russia, and other states. Politicians, scholars, and dip­lomats continue to study the EAU project with great attention.

The current period in history is characterized by a radical breakdown of the old way of life. Society now faces difficult issues, and each person is subject to serious trials It is quite natural under these conditions that the peoples of Kazakh­stan, Russia, and other countries with an interest in the uni­fication of the Commonwealth will find it easier to overcome these difficulties together. A balanced attitude toward the past, a persistent realization of the present potential, and confidence in a more certain future - only these things will be able to give the peoples of our countries a natural feeling of spiritual har­mony and a sense of full-blooded life.

History is offering us a chance to enter the 21st century in a civilized manner. One of the ways to achieve that, in my view, is the realization of the integration potential for the establishment of the Eurasian Union, which will reflect the objective logic of the development of the post-Soviet space and the will of the peoples of the former Soviet Union to achieve integration.

This is how President Nazarbayev, the author of the Eurasian project, characterized the development of this idea and his current vision of its future: "I still remain an adherent of integration of post-Soviet space. As I formulated my vision of integration I laid no claims to total realization of all the provisions of the project, being fully aware of all the political connotations of that period. Two considerations were my pri­mary motivation. First, I wanted to generalize within a single whole the most realistic proposals for further integration, which simultaneously appeared in the countries of the post-Soviet space. Second, I wished to interrupt the indecently drawn-out pause in the activities of the CIS institutions.

In the last two years there was movement in the CIS countries on some issues that had been at a standstill, including

4. VITAL PROBLEMS OF THE PRESENT-DAY STATE OF KAZAKHSTANI-RUSSIAN RELATIONS

The Present State and Prospects for Economic Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia.

The top priority area of Kazakhstan’s policy in foreign trade is the strengthening of economic cooperation with Russia and consistent integration of the economies of the CIS countries. This is determined by the traditionally strong economic links, a high level of mutual complementarily and interdependence of two economies of a once unified state, the size of the commodity market and identify of economic problems awaiting solution. “Analysis of the results of development of the economy of the former USSR and of experiences of economically advanced nations,” President Nazarbayev stressed, “shows that the transition to the market is objectively necessary and historically inevitable.”

The main feature of the present-day situation in Kazakhstan is the increasing impact of the mechanisms that have evolved in the years of reform and a weakening of the effect of non-market factors. In the initial stages, the underdeveloped state of such important instruments of the formation of the market as privatization, de-monopolization, absence of a competitive environment, were the main sources of inflation in the republic, a worsening state of the finances of enterprisers, an acute shortage of turnover capital, a fall in production due to falling demand and real earnings of the main mass of the population, as well as growing abuses in trade and banking structures.

Ðåôåðàò îïóáëèêîâàí: 18/07/2008