Tajikistan and Russia have agreed to simplify customs procedures. An agreement between Tajikistan’s Customs Service and Russia’s Federal Customs Service on simplifying customs procedures for movement of goods and vehicles between Tajikistan and Russia (Simplified Customs Corridor) was signed in Moscow on April 17.
Russian media outlets consider that the agreement is groundwork for the possible expansion of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEC).
In an interview with Ekonimka Segodnya (Economics Today), Dmitry Verkhoturov, an expert on Central Asia at the Center for Contemporary Afghanistan Studies, says Таджикистан is seeking expansion of economic cooperation with Russia.
“From the first days of the establishment of the Customs Union, Tajikistan has not hidden its interest in this alliance and expressed intention to join it,” Verkhoturov said. “Later on, when the Customs Union was reorganized into the Eurasian Economic Union, Tajik authorities did not lose interest in integration and Dushanbe continues pursuing the path of removing obstacles in the way of expansion of trade with the Russian Federation.”
At the same time, he noted that the agreement on simplified customs procedures should not be linked directly to Tajikistan’s desire for membership in the Eurasian Economic Union.
“Dushanbe probably tries to feel maximally facilitation of customs procedures in order to see how beneficial membership in this economic alliance might be to them. If positive arguments outweigh, Tajikistan will apply for membership in the Eurasian Economic Union,” the expert said.
Although Tajikistan does have common border with Russia, it borders Kyrgyzstan through which Dushanbe has direct access to the EAEU space and this makes Tajikistan’s admission to the Union easier, Verkhoturov added.
Meanwhile, the Integration Barometer-2017 report released by the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) in December 2017 has shown that Tajik citizens' desire to join the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is waning.
According to the report, only 69% of citizens expressed a desire for Tajikistan to join the EEU in 2017, compared to 76% in 2012.
The Tajik government has been considering the issue of joining the EEU since 2014
The Eurasian Economic Union is a trading bloc of former Soviet states, which owes its creation to a treaty signed by the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia in May 2014. A year later, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan joined the union.
