The three-hour summit of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) in Dushanbe was a landmark event in the history of the organization. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon succeeded to President Vladimir Putin as the EurAsEC chair; and Kazakhstan’s Tair Mansurov replaced Grigory Rapota as the EurAsEC general secretary.

Still the most important result of the summit was the launch of a customs union. Initially, it will unite Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, but other member countries – Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan – have also taken an interest in the project.

Bearing that in mind, the delegates decided that the EurAsEC Interstate Council rather than a new tripartite body will supervise the customs union.

The legal foundation of the customs union gained unanimous support, much thanks to prior consultations between the chiefs of state. The consultations lasted for nearly 150 minutes instead of the planned 60.

"The EurAsEC presidents signed the [customs union] documents the way they were drafted by the working group," Russian delegation member and Vice-Premier Sergei Naryshkin said.

"The six-nation protocol amended the EurAsEC fundamental agreement and put the Interstate Council in charge of the customs union affairs," he said.

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan decided to form the Customs Union Commission and signed an agreement on the united customs territory and a protocol enacting the union’s laws, Naryshkin said. "The sides approved a related action plan. This is a three-year plan, but the sides wish to complete the process within a shorter period," he said.

"The drafting of the common economic space laws will go on, and a report will be made at the next meeting of the EurAsEC Interstate Council in Moscow in 2008," the delegates said.

EurAsEC approved its budgetary policy for next year.

"The economy of EurAsEC member countries grew, alongside trade and incomes of citizens in 2006," the Interstate Council said. "Practically all socioeconomic parameters improved. The GDP growth stood at 7% as compared to 2005, while the industrial production enlarged by 4%, and the agricultural production increased by 3%. Trade between EurAsEC member countries was preliminary estimated at $70 billion, one-third growth since 2005," the budgetary report of the Interstate Council runs.

Uzbekistan joined the organization, which enlarged the EurAsEC budget 2006 from 109 to 145.4 million rubles. "The payment of membership fees in 2006 shows that member countries fulfill their budgetary commitments," the report runs.

The report defined as key economic goals of 2008 "the drafting of interstate programs for the formation of a common transport space, a common energy market, the effective use of water and energy resources of Central Asia, peaceful uses of atomic energy, and research and development."

The Interstate Council pledged the appropriate and transparent spending of the EurAsEC budget in 2008. "Cooperation with the Eurasian Development Bank will be important for investment projects," the report runs. It did not specify the amount of the next year budget though.

Russia will soon present a draft concept of the common energy market to EurAsEC member states, Putin said at the summit. "No one raised objections at camera meetings and consultations of experts," he said.

The delegates approved a draft resolution of the UN General Assembly concerning cooperation between the United Nations Organization and EurAsEC and suggested that member countries should submit the draft to the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly.

The draft resolution "welcomes the EurAsEC activity targeted for stronger regional cooperation in various spheres, including trade, economic development, customs, energy, transport, agriculture and migration, stresses the importance of dialog, cooperation and coordination between the UN and EurAsEC and suggests regular consultations between the UN secretary general and the EurAsEC general secretary."

Initially, Belarus was drafting a common energy market concept, and Russian experts joined in later, Rapota said. "The Energy Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences drafted the concept and submitted it to the Russian government. Soon the concept will be presented to [EurAsEC] member countries," he noted.

Russia will also suggest a permanent location for EurAsEC summits, Putin said. "A number of our colleagues have suggested selecting a permanent location for EurAsEC summits. We have a proposal. I hope it will be acceptable," he said.

The next EurAsEC summit will be held in Moscow, Rapota said. "We will choose the summit time – May or June, and name the particular date through consultations," he said.

This summit has had "nearly revolutionary results," Putin said. "We agreed to form the customs union and formed a supranational body – a commission in charge of customs regulations. The customs union is still to be established. That will be done after the ratification and signing of supplementary agreements by 2011."

"All the sides want to achieve practical results. Although the customs union will have three participants initially – the Russian Federation, Belarus and Kazakhstan – all other EurAsEC members have voiced their interest in the project. Thus, we decided to hold the negotiations at EurAsEC rather than form a separate organization," Putin said.