Bishkek, Moscow setting up fund to facilitate Kyrgyzstan's integration with Customs Union
ASTANA. May 29 (Interfax) - Kyrgyzstan and Russia have agreed to set up a fund for promoting Kyrgyzstan's integration into the Customs Union, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev said.
"We decided with the Russian side just today to set up a fund, the money from which would be allocated directly, in a targeted way and without bureaucratic barriers, to facilitating Kyrgyzstan's integration with the Customs Union," Atambayev said at an expanded meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Astana on Thursday.
"The Kyrgyzstan side will provide maximum support and guarantees of protection to the fund and to Russian investments," he said.
After joining the Customs Union, the Kyrgyz economy will face "not easy times at first: we are primarily concerned about a possible drop in production and unemployment growth."
"We are not going to heap our problems on the shoulders of the Customs Union countries," Atambayev said. "But we would like to ensure the understanding of our problems and win considerable support in resolving them," he said.