It also granted an observer status to the Eurasian Development Bank.

EurAsEC "is becoming an important institution of regional cooperation, a major element in the formation of an efficient system that ensures stability in the region and expanded economic cooperation," EurAsEC Executive Secretary Tair Mansurov told the UN General Assembly.

He said EurAsEC, which received an observer status at the UN four years ago, wants to draw the attention of the world community to such problems, as rehabilitation of uranium storage facilities in Kirgizia and Tajikistan, the Semipalatinsk nuclear range in Kazakhstan, and the problem of the drying-out Aral Sea.

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said "the current level and format of interaction between the UN and EurAsEC do not fully correspond to their potential in the region."

"It is time to put the relations between the Community and the UN on a systematic basis, to enhance the practical result of their interaction for the sake of resolving by the two organizations of common tasks in the social and economic sphere," he stressed.

"In a short period of time since its emergence in October 2000 EurAsEC developed into an efficient and dynamically developing community with a developed legal and institutional base," he stressed.