Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasoulzoda is attending a session of the CIS Council of Heads of Government that is going in the Kazakh capital of Astana today.
Rasoulzoda is expected to hold a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the CIS prime ministers’ meeting in Astana, a source in the Tajik government told Asia-Plus in an interview.
Meanwhile, the CIS Executive Committee press center says CIS heads of government are planned to exchange views on topical issues of economic collaboration within the CIS area in a narrow format.
13 issues related to cooperation between the CIS nations in various fields have reportedly been tabled to the draft agenda of the meeting in an expanded format.
The delegations are expected to discuss the Agreement on Cooperation between the CIS Member-Nations on Preparedness for a Nuclear Accident or Radiation Emergency and Mutual Assistance in Elimination of Their Consequences.
It is also planned to sign a Protocol on the exchange of information in electronic form between the CIS member-nations for the implementation of tax administration within the framework of the meeting.
Besides, a number of amendments will be made to the Interstate Target Program on Recultivation of Territories of the Nations Exposed to Uranium-Mining Operations. The program, in particular, provides for rehabilitating five radiation contaminated areas in Kyrgyzstan and one such area in Tajikistan.
The session participants will also discuss an agreement on exploration and peaceful use of outer space and the plan of actions in the field of humanitarian cooperation for 2019-2020.
The CIS Council of Heads of Government was established on December 21, 1991. The council is the second major body in the CIS after the CIS Council of Heads of State, and consists of the prime ministers of all member states. The council coordinates the CIS member states' cooperation in economic, social and other areas of their common interests, and adopts corresponding decisions through consensus. A session of the CIS Council of Heads of Government is convened twice a year, normally in winter and autumn. Extraordinary meetings are summoned on the initiative of the government of a member state.
Established on December 8, 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization. It now consists of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. Georgia pulled out of the organization in 2009.
Although Ukraine was one of the founding countries and ratified the Creation Agreement in December 1991, Ukraine chose not to ratify the CIS Charter as it disagrees with Russia being the only legal successor state to the Soviet Union. Thus it does not regard itself as a member of the CIS. In 1993, Ukraine became an "Associate Member" of CIS. On March 14, 2014, a bill was introduced to Ukraine's parliament to denounce their ratification of the 1991 Agreement Establishing the CIS, following the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, but was never approved. Following the 2014 parliamentary election, a new bill to denounce the CIS agreement was introduced. In September 2015, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Ukraine will continue taking part in CIS “on a selective basis.” Since that month, Ukraine has had no representatives in the CIS Executive Committee building. In April 2018, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko indicated that Ukraine would formally leave the CIS. On May 19, 2018, President Poroshenko signed a decree formally ending Ukraine's participation in CIS statutory bodies. However, as of 1 June the CIS secretariat had not received formal notice from Ukraine of its withdrawal from the CIS, a process which will take 1 year following notice being given. Ukraine has stated that intends review its participation in all CIS agreements, and only continue in those that are in its interests.
