Official Minsk against opening Customs Union market to new participants

At a press conference in Minsk, Ambassador of India to Belarus Manoj Kumar Bharti said that India was interested in joining the free trade zone within the Customs Union of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan.
Belarus is feeling threatened by this proposal. If India entered the free trade zone within the CU, Belarusian producers would be in a significantly weaker position on the Russian market, facing stiff competition from Indian manufacturers. Official Minsk is not interested in opening the common market with Russia and Kazakhstan to new states – it will seek to freeze the current composition of the Customs Union, as it provides Belarus’ domestic producers with advantageous access to the Russian market.
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