MOSCOW, October 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev congratulated the personnel, veterans and employees of the Federal Customs Service on their professional holiday noting that Russian customs officers should work closely with their colleagues from Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia, the Russian Cabinet's website reported Saturday.
"Russian customs officers should work closely with their counterparts from Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia, in order to ensure free movement of goods, services, capital and labor. It is important to improve the quality of customs administration, actively introduce advanced information technologies, including electronic declaration," the Prime Minister was quoted as saying.
The Russian prime minister said that customs officers are now facing major new challenges associated primarily with the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), also known as the Eurasian Union (EAU) which will begin its work on January 1, 2015.
On October 10, the leaders of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan formally dissolved the group to prepare for the EEU's launch in 2015.
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed the treaty to create the Eurasian Economic Union in May and have already ratified the document. The EEU leaders also signed an agreement on Armenia's accession to the EEU Treaty. The agreement brings together 170 million people onto a common market, with the aim of launching the development of domestic trade, economic and cooperative ties, increased competitiveness of national production and stronger positions in the global economic system.
The republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have also expressed interest in joining the organization.
