Russia not ready to extend Custom Union's tariffs to CIS area

Russia is not ready to extend the Custom Union's tariffs to the area of the CIS member-states, Russian first vice-premier Igor Shuvalov said, RIA Novosti reports.
"There must be some specific preferences exclusively for the markets of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which can't be implemented in the states that are not ready for such close integration," Shuvalov said, giving a speech at the conference "Russia-CIS - on the route to globalization".
He also noted that some other members of the CIS insist on a free-trade area, but this attitude calls into question the meaning of the Customs Union's existence.