Trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Russia 20% down

 The trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Russia has fallen by 20%, a Tengrinews.kz journalist reports.

“Among the negative factors driving the economy slowdown we can name falling prices for oil and gas, our major commodities. It is obvious the current year will be a stress test for the Eurasian economic model”, President Nazarbayev said, tallying the results of the trilateral meeting with his Russian and Belarus counterparts.

“The trade turnover between Russia and Kazakhstan has fallen by 20% mainly due to falling prices for our major exports and currency fluctuations. We were aware of such risks and we need to jointly overcome the tough time”, he elaborated.

He emphasized that the countries’ economies call for detailed discussion of further interaction and possible solutions to any arising issues. “We should come up with a joint action plan to tackle crisis developments in our economies. That is what the current meeting of the three presidents was focused on”, President Nazarbayev said.

According to him, the governments of the three nations have been tasked with taking measures to resume growth of the mutual trade.

In his turn, President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus pointed out that the trade turnover within the Eurasian Economic Union had decreased by 15% for 2014 and the recent months of 2015.

The three presidents have agreed to meet in Moscow May 8, on the eve of the Military Parade to celebrate the victory in World War 2, to discuss the status of the agreements reached today.