Priority: the interests of domestic producers

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Kazakhstan and Russia don’t intend to introduce a single currency. Incorrect presentation of information provoked this discussion

The widely discussed in this connection the Agreement on cooperation in organizing an integrated currency market was signed on 5^th of December 2012 in Ashgabat by the the heads of the CIS member states. Kazakhstan ratified it on April 15, 2015. The State Duma received a draft law on ratification of the agreement on August 28 of this year. Then came the publication in the media with headlines that Russian President Vladimir Putin "offered to abandon the dollar in the CIS".

In fact, the document does not contain provisions on transition to a unified, supranational currency.

The explanatory note to the Russian draft law, published on the official website of the Russian president clearly stated that the above mentioned agreement is prepared pursuant to paragraph 1 of the Plan of implementation of joint actions of CIS countries to overcome the global financial and economic crisis in 2009-2010, approved by the Board of Heads CIS Governments on 20^th of November 2009.

"At the current stage of development of integration cooperation of CIS member states is quite important the formation of a common financial market, which will strengthen trade and economic cooperation of the Commonwealth", - states the website of the head of the Russian Federation.

In addition, it is noted that the agreement provides for a direct admission of resident banks of parties to the internal currency markets of each other for interbank forex transactions on terms no less favorable than those provided by the national commercial banks, which will help expand the use of national currencies in payments in the field of foreign trade and the provision of financial services and thus create conditions for increasing the liquidity of the market of national currencies.

As a result, conditions are created under which markets will get the maximum development of national currencies, there will be conditions for a harmonized monetary policy, aimed at creating further opportunities for long-term strategies of trade-economic and investment cooperation, as well as to achieve overall macroeconomic stability in the region.

At the same time, Article 2 of the Agreement contains rules other than those provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation, in respect of the provision the right to carry out foreign exchange transactions, national treatment during interbank foreign exchange transactions in the domestic foreign exchange market to resident banks of other Parties of the Agreement on the territory of one of the parties of the Agreement, in accordance with their legislation.

At the same time Paragraph 2 of Article 4 of the Federal Law "On currency regulation and currency control" stipulates that the international treaties of the Russian Federation are applied directly in currency regulation and currency control.

The explanatory note also highlights that "if an international treaty of the Russian Federation stipulates other rules than those provided for by this Federal Law, the rules of the international treaty are applied".

The draft federal law "On ratification of the Agreement on cooperation in organizing an integrated currency market of the Commonwealth of Independent States” is in compliance with the provisions of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the provisions of other international treaties of the Russian Federation.

It is worth noting that, under the terms of the Agreement, is being developed the international agreement "on harmonized approach to the regulation of currency relations and measures of liberalization". Adoption of the document is planned at the level of Heads of Government of the EAEU. Expert work is still ongoing. In this connection, the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan "Atameken" considers it necessary to discuss this draft document with the stakeholders (associations, second-tier banks, the National Bank of Kazakhstan, the Eurasian Economic Commission) in order to develop the position of the Kazakh side.

The principle position of NCE KZ on this issue is provision of economic benefits to the domestic industry. This approach is reflected in the Foreign Policy Concept of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2014-2020, in which it is determined that in the framework of the integration process it is necessary to comply with such fundamental principles as the inviolability of the sovereignty of the political, economic justification of decisions, in stages, pragmatism and mutual benefit, equal representation of the parties all bodies of integration and consensus at all levels of integration cooperation.