Nikita Mendkovich: "On the Path to the Eurasian Economic Miracle"
According to the IA, the author of the work, the book 'On the Way to the Eurasian Economic Miracle' is dedicated to the formation and prospects of the EAEU. It analyzes the reasons for the emergence of this union, as well as possible paths for its further development both for each member state and for the union as a whole.
– The book emphasizes that the industrial economy of all post-Soviet states was formed during the Soviet period, and the collapse of their close economic ties led to negative economic consequences, – says Nikita Mendkovich. – In particular, a decline in real GDP was observed in almost all former Soviet states during 1991-1993. In this regard, in the early 2000s, the idea arose to renew trade and economic ties based on the mutual dependence of the participating states to utilize this reserve for further growth.
The author notes that the tripartite Customs Union, initiated by Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan in pilot mode, showed quite good effectiveness. In the initial period, trade turnover between the participating countries began to grow, and despite the crisis, it occurred at a faster pace than with third countries. At the current stage, alongside the exchange of goods resulting from the removal of customs and other barriers, there is an exchange of investments, which allows some machine engineering enterprises in Russia to enter Kazakhstan, while a joint project for the production of high-tech goods, including supercomputers and their components, is being created on a Russian-Belarusian basis.
– In the book, I analyze the development prospects of each of the five EAEU states, as well as Tajikistan as a potential member of the union. The prospects for creating free trade agreements between the EAEU and countries outside the region are also analyzed. In particular, a similar agreement has already been practically concluded with Vietnam. In the future, a similar agreement is likely with India, Turkey, Israel, and possibly with several Latin American countries. This is due to the fact that as the volume of the common market grows, it begins to represent significant interest for foreign investors who are interested in selling their goods in the EAEU territory. After the expansion of the EAEU, it is very likely that similar proposals will be received by Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, – the Russian economist informed IA.
In his new work, Nikita Mendkovich also examines the so-called alternative integration project in the post-Soviet space and the reasons for its failure. A separate chapter is dedicated to aspects of cooperation in the security sphere through the CSTO.
The print run of the book is 1,000 copies. The publication contains a lot of statistical and tabular material and is not intended to showcase the economic base of the EAEU. The book is primarily aimed at students of humanitarian specialties, predominantly international relations, economists, political scientists, as well as specialists in these fields, including representatives of the academic community.
It should be noted that a separate chapter in Nikita Mendkovich's book is dedicated to Kyrgyzstan, analyzing the current state of the republic's economy, examining its development prospects in the context of the EAEU, providing an analysis of existing economic growth forecasts, and suggesting ways to develop export-oriented sectors that could show the best results under the EAEU conditions. In particular, it discusses the agro-industrial complex, mining, and textile industries.
As IA reported, Nikita Mendkovich stated that Kyrgyzstan has serious chances to restore its machine engineering production, which was lost by the republic after the collapse of the Soviet Union due to the deindustrialization of the 1990s.
