Eurasian integration

 Eurasian integration is one of the most important topics for modern Kazakhstan.

The ideology and practice of Eurasian integration for Kazakhstan - is an important part of government policy.

Eurasianism is one of the backbone elements of state ideology - not by chance that one of the leading universities in the country - Eurasian - is named after Lev Gumilyov. In Russia, even just thinking about the opening of the departments or Eurasian integration or Eurasian intellectual centers, and in Kazakhstan they have existed for more than ten years, and not only in capital cities - Astana and Almaty - and in the regions - Uralsk, Pavlodar, Kostanay.

Kazakhstan is the first country in the former Soviet Union, actively promoting the idea of ​​the restoration of cooperation, economic cooperation on a new basis.

In place of the Eurasian Economic Community comes Eurasian Economic Union, which started its work on 1 January 2015. According to the Republic of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, it is a purely economic integration.

The first step was the creation of the Eurasian integration in 1995 of the EEC to form common external customs borders of its member states, develop a common foreign economic policy, tariffs, prices and other components of the overall market. In May 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin took the initiative to transform the community. A year later, the new composition of the Eurasian Economic Community includes the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

The second step was the formation of the Customs Union (CU) of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which operates within the common customs tariff, are not applied customs duties and restrictions of economic nature, except special protective, antidumping and countervailing measures. On October 6, 2007 was signed an agreement on creation of the Customs Union. But formally CU began its work on January 1, 2010.

The third stage of integration is the creation of the Common Economic Space (CES). The decision was adopted on November 27, 2009 in Moscow by the heads of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The aim of the CES is to eliminate the barriers to mutual trade, the creation of a common market of goods, services, capital and labor, as well as coordinated monetary policy.

"I think that the official policy of the Eurasian Union will remain unchanged. Do not forget that the beginning of this was made by speech President Nazarbayev put back in the early 90s at Moscow State University ", - said Kazakh analyst Kazbek Beysebaev.

Meanwhile, a number of public figures oppose Kazakhstan's accession to the Eurasian Economic Union, considering the integration processes as the main threat to national sovereignty. The head of the youth movement "Rukh Pen Til" (Spirit and Language) Zhanbolat Mamai said that "if Kazakhstan is to be led by Moscow, then definitely become a satellite of Russia and will be isolated from the whole world."

According to him, "Russia has long held the position of "who is not with us is our enemy" - an example of this are the "candy-milk wars" with Ukraine, the situation around the "Uralkaliya". According to Zhanbolat Mamai, the Kremlin is trying to use Kazakhstan "to put pressure on Ukraine to ensure that it has entered into CU and the Eurasian Union".

Many Kazakh experts believe that the new Eurasian Economic Union will repeat not a very positive experience of the previous integration associations - the EEC and the Customs Union, where Kazakhstan, in their opinion, was not in the most favorable position.

Director of the Risk Assessment Group, a political scientist Dosym Satpayev noted that the advantages of the integration processes is the attempt to create a single labor market, the opening of new economic markets for their products, attempting to attract new technologies, and that participation in integration projects allows to act together in the face of global competition.

But, as stressed by Satpayev, "the reality is that all these advantages in the end turn into minuses". Hope and Kazakh authorities predictions as to what, for example, the vehicle will open for Kazakhstan businessmen 153000000th market, is not justified. "The share of Kazakhstan in the Customs Union in 2012 amounted to slightly less than 17%, whereas in 2011 this figure was 20%. Kazakhstan is still actively selling raw materials of Russia and Belarus, and in return receives a finished product, which including from our raw materials and do," - said Dosym Satpayev.

As the political scientist notices, just Kazakhstan loses concerning the single labor market. "Kazakhstan - is not Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. We do not have such a flow of migrant workers who go to work in Russia. Of course, there are people who work in Russia, but in comparison with the Tajiks and Uzbeks there are few of them", - says the analyst.

Vice-Minister of Economy and Budget Planning of Kazakhstan Timur Zhaksylykov also noted in turn that Kazakhstan expectations were not fulfilled. "We expect that once we get a positive effect in the form of increased sales of our products," mad "employment growth and industrial capacity load. But the process is long enough ", - admitted Timur Zhaksylykov.

According to the leader of Kazakhstan's Social Democrats Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, economic independence is a very important issue for Kazakhstan. "We need a Eurasian Economic Union".