Economic Effects of Belarus Participation in the CIS Countries Customs Union

In 1995 three countries of the former Soviet Union (Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan) established a Customs Union, which Kyrgyzstan and Tadjikistan joined later. After the passage of five years since the Customs Union formation, it is essential to assess the implications of Belarus’ membership in this Customs Union. The objective of this project is the analysis of the costs and benefits of the Belarus’ participation in the Customs Union of the CIS countries based on the study of the static and dynamic economic effects and their impact on the nation’s welfare, and the Belarus’ economy growth rate. As the evaluations of Belarus’ participation in the Customs Union by the country’s government and political opposition are completely opposite, a politically independent analysis is of principal importance.