Updated 9:03 p.m. Moscow Time
MINSK, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has signed a law on ratification of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, his chief of staff announced Thursday.
"Belarusian Alexander Lukashenko signed on Thursday the law on ratification of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union," Belarusian state-run news agency BELTA cited Andrei Kobyakov as saying.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill to ratify the treaty.
Earlier on Thursday, Kazakhstan's upper house of parliament also ratified the treaty. The document is expected to be signed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The union is aimed at increasing economic cooperation among its three member countries. Under the treaty, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan agree to guarantee the free flow of goods, services, capital and labor, and to implement a coordinated policy in the energy, industrial, agricultural and transport sectors.
The agreement is based on the provisions of the contractual legal framework of the Customs Union and Common Economic Space that were improved to comply with World Trade Organization rules.
