After decades of preparation, the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) was finally established in January – an ambitious project at a difficult time. The union, combining Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia, as well as the acceding Kyrgyzstan, is the third stage of economic integration in the region, after the creation of a customs union and subsequent common economic space. But does such fully fledged Eurasian co-operation come at the right time?
The union’s largest economy by far is Russia, which is suffering a significant recession. According to the EEU, the gross domestic product (GDP) in the union as of 2014 was $2200bn; Russia’s economy alone accounted for $1857bn, according to data from the International Monetary Fund. Russia’s GDP is expected to shrink by 4.5% in 2015 and by close to 2% in 2016, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and its currency and economy are strongly dependent on oil revenues.
