Professor Hojimuhammad Umarov, expert on Tajik economy, considers that accession to the Eurasian Economic Union promises the country more benefits than harm.
“Of course, there are pros and cons here. But there more pros than cons,” Umarov said during an interview with Tojikiston newspaper.
He noted that the country’s officials mainly considered the negative side of the issue.
According to him, one of the main cons is reduction in customs payments.
“And the benefit is that indirect income will grow at times, first of all, labor migrants’ remittances,” said the expert. “Migrants will receive more privileges when working in Russia.”
For example, they will receive medical policies and be treated if necessary, Umarov noted.
“Recently, I visited one of shopping malls in St. Petersburg. Both Tajiks and Kyrgyz are working at this mall; but Kyrgyz are working as cashiers, commodity distributors, forwarding agents or stock keepers, while Tajiks are doing hard works on the street and in the basement. Salaries of Kyrgyz nationals are 2-3 times higher than salaries of Tajiks,” the expert noted.
Besides, all Tajik migrants will become members of Russia’s trade unions if Tajikistan joins the EAEU, Umarov added.
Meanwhile, negotiations for Tajikistan’s accession to the EAEU have been slow. However, the difficult situation in the banking sector and the broader economy might motivate Tajikistan to seek closer ties with the EAEU to request financial support.
Recall, the Russian side had suggested observer status to their Tajik counterparts during a meeting of the Tajik-Russian commission for trade and economic cooperation in April last year.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said in its November 2017 Transition Report 2017-2018 that Tajikistan was expected to intensify its exploration of EAEU membership. The EBRD noted that in July 2017, “the head of the customs service in Tajikistan announced that an expert committee had completed its study of Tajikistan’s potential EAEU accession.” While the results were not made public and negotiations were slow to progress, the EBRD suggested that the country’s banking crisis and “broader economy” could motivate Dushanbe to seek engagement with the EAEU.
A year later, Russia revised its ambitions from full Tajik participation to merely drawing Dushanbe in as an observer.
The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is an economic union of states located primarily in northern Eurasia. A treaty aiming for the establishment of the EAEU was signed on May 29, 2014 by the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, and came into force on January 1, 2015. Treaties aiming for Armenia’s and Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union were signed on October 9 and December 23, 2014, respectively. Armenia’s accession treaty came into force on January 2, 2015. Kyrgyzstan’s accession treaty came into effect on August 6, 2015.
The Eurasian Economic Union has an integrated single market of 183 million people and a gross domestic product of over 4 trillion U.S. dollars (PPP). The EAEU introduces the free movement of goods, capital, services and people and provides for common transport, agriculture and energy policies, with provisions for a single currency and greater integration in the future. The union operates through supranational and intergovernmental institutions. The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council is the “Supreme Body” of the Union, consisting of the Heads of the Member States. The other supranational institutions are the Eurasian Commission (the executive body), the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council (consisting of the Prime Ministers of member states) and the Court of the EAEU (the judicial body).
