Mr. Gryzlov was speaking in St. Petersburg on Friday at international parliamentary hearings about the legal aspects of Eurasec states entering the WTO.
According to him, Eurasec countries' close economic ties are the most important reason that Eurasec needs coordinated positions. "Our economies are closely tied," he said. "Despite the considerable amount of reorientation of national economies to third countries, mutual profitability and interdependence remain rather high, especially in manufacturing."
He said that about Russian 800 companies had relations with 350 Belarusian companies, 560 Russian companies cooperate with 270 Kazakh companies and 240 Russian companies trade with 120 companies in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
"To a certain extent, Eurasec functions as a single manufacturing system that includes mutual delivers of a wide range of products," he said. "This is why a change of economic and trade rules in one country in the community will affect the economies of the other Eurasec states."
He said that the possible negative repercussions of joining the WTO should be remembered. "The main adverse effect," he said, "the decline of domestic manufacturing, could be caused by decreased customs duties that will, in turn, result in the growth of imports. This may affect output in some sectors, employment and incomes."
