• From January 1, 2012, the three states are expected to introduce the single economic space.
• Leaders of Tajikistan
  Tajikistan
  Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
  
   voiced their interest in potentially joining the union.
• Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych
  Viktor Yanukovych
  Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
  
   has stated that Ukraine
  Ukraine
  Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
  
   may potentially join the Customs Union in the future, but that the Constitution of Ukraine currently does not allow that. On the other hand, he has also stated that Ukraine will not join the Customs Union. Ukraine is negotiating an association agreement
  European Union Association Agreement
  A European Union Association Agreement is a treaty between the European Union and a non-EU country that creates a framework for co-operation between them. Areas frequently covered by such agreements include the development of political, trade, social, cultural and security links...
  
   with the European Union
  European Union
  The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
  
   (EU), and entering the customs union with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus would end the chances for this agreement according to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso. Yanukovych wants to pursue EU membership for Ukraine. In May 2011 Yanukovych stated Ukraine is "searching for mechanisms of cooperation that will allow us to work with the customs union to the extent which Ukrainian laws and our obligations to world organizations such as the World Trade Organization
  World Trade Organization
  The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
  
   allow”.
• Russia
  Russia
  Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
  
  , Kazakhstan
  Kazakhstan
  Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
  
   and Belarus
  Belarus
  Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
  
   have launched a customs union as a first step towards forming a broader EU-type economic alliance of former Soviet states.
• In October 2011, the acting prime minister of Kyrgyzstan
  Kyrgyzstan
  Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
  
   has announced that the country will join the union, and that the process has been agreed with the prime-ministers of the other member states.
• On 19 November 2011 Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia put together a joint commission on fostering closer economic ties, planning to create a Eurasian Economic Union
  Eurasian Union
  The Eurasian Union or EAU is a proposal for economic cooperation between Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and other Eurasian countries, in particular the post-Soviet states....
  
   by 2015.

See also

• Regional organizations in the Post-Soviet space
• Union State
• Eurasian Economic Community
  Eurasian Economic Community
  The Eurasian Economic Community originated from the Commonwealth of Independent States customs union between Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan on 29 March 1996...
  
  
• Free trade areas in Europe
• European Union Customs Union
  European Union Customs Union
  The European Union Customs Union is a customs union which consists of all the Member States of the European Union and a number of surrounding countries....
  
  
• Trade bloc
  Trade bloc
  A trade bloc is a type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, where regional barriers to trade, are reduced or eliminated among the participating states.-Description:...
  
  
• Eurasian Union
  Eurasian Union
  The Eurasian Union or EAU is a proposal for economic cooperation between Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and other Eurasian countries, in particular the post-Soviet states....