The Institute of Contemporary Development hosted a press conference marking a publication of the report "Russia’s Economic Interests and Goals in the CIS”.

The report was presented by Chairman of the Institute's Board Igor Yurgens and Director for International Development Sergey Kulik.

The four major problem zones identified by authors of the report are as follows: formation of Russia’s economic policy in respect to the CIS is still underway; the past years saw slackening of integration processes in the CIS, which can have grave consequences in the nearest future; the global financial crisis has deepened the conflict between the major power centers, which are eager to secure control over various resources in order to fuel own development (post-Soviet states most often serve as a ground for such “battles”). As a result, it is necessary to develop a balanced and efficient pattern of the CIS reintegration and a new relationship policy for the commonwealth states.

According to authors of the report, Russia is to expand and deepen its cooperation with the CIS member states, and to facilitate integration processes in the post-Soviet countries.

Establishment of the CIS Multilateral Free Trade Area is viewed as the key element of the new relationship policy - it will enable to balance the current and long-term interests of the CIS member states. Among the strong benefits of the project is that it will not limit sovereignty or the freedom of choice of the countries in question, will not run counter to the goals of the Customs Union, and will be open for third countries.

Apart from that, successful implementation of the suggested policy and revision of the CIS economic pattern will be impossible without an efficient cooperation with the European Union.

Key findings and recommendations were worked out after a detailed analysis of the latest two decades of economic partnership between Russia and the CIS. INSOR experts also focused on the weak points, contradictions and threats of this cooperation. According to authors of the report, efficiency of the Russian leverage inside the CIS keeps decreasing. That is why an ability to pave the way for integration of the CIS member states, and to offer its partners an efficient and mutually beneficial cooperation pattern becomes the major source of Russia’s power in the CIS.