According to the experts, the creation of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will benefit the countries’ economic development and speed up the integration process. Enacted a year ago, the Union has already boosted the trade volume between the member countries considerably. A press-conference was held in Moscow devoted to development of transport and logistics infrastructure of the Customs Union countries
Sergey Kruglov, the president of DPD in Russia and the CIS:
The Customs Union established a crucially new environment for transport and logistics companies. The main advantage of the Customs Union is elimination of barriers in mutual trade. The border between Russia and Kazakhstan is 7,500 km, it is the longest land border in the world, and this border doesn’t exist anymore. In the first year of operation of the Customs Union, cargo turnover between Russia and Kazakhstan grew by 40%. It influences overnight delivery and logistics market. A new market for overnight delivery of package cargo by automobile vehicles between the countries of the Customs Union is being formed. This market is formed due to integration of economies of the Customs Union states, redistribution of cargo flows between kinds of transport and deconsolidation of large cargos into smaller ones.
These processes characterized establishment of the European Union, but in our case they are more rapid. The volume of the market is appraised at 150 million euros. In the future we expect the volume to grow 10-fold.
Vechyaslav Chernov, the chancellor, extraordinary and plenipotentiary envoy of the Trade Representative of Kazakhstan in the Russian Federation:
Kazakhstan is a country of four air international corridors, six railways and nine auto corridors, which is why Kazakhstan is a country, the transport logistics infrastructure of which is very important for transportation of cargo not only from Russia to Kazakhstan, but also from all Europe. The special program for 2010-2014 was developed on the order of the president of Russia. It includes reconstruction and building of highways, railways, improving of infrastructure and development of airports.
Nikolay Nikolayev, the representative of the executive board of the National Union of Insurance Offices:
The business community looks positively at exploration of new markets and cooperation with our Kazakh colleagues. The Customs Union enables prices for delivery to be reduced, as well as the time for it to be cut short. The business community, together with the ministry for economic development, pays much attention to mutual approval of security regulations, including road safety. These are the main interesting questions. The Customs Union enables elimination of certain barriers, which demanded additional formalization. In this context development of logistics and the overnight delivery industry of it is very important, as it simplifies cooperation between commercial structures of both countries.
