19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 1/14

Commonwealth of Independent States(CIS)

Содружество НезависимыхГосударств (СНГ)

Sodruzhestvo Nezavisimykh Gosudarstv (SNG)

Flag Emblem

Administrative center MinskLargest city Moscow

Working language Russian

Membership

Government Commonwealth ­ Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev ­ Presidency Belarus

Establishment 8 December 1991 ­ Collective SecurityTreaty Organisation

15 May 1992

­ Free trade agreement(CISFTA) signed

1994[1]

­ CISFTA established End of 2010[2]

Area ­ Total 22,100,843 km2

8,533,183 sq mi

Commonwealth of Independent StatesFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS;Russian: Содружество Независимых Государств,СНГ, tr. Sodruzhestvo Nezavisimykh Gosudarstv,SNG; also called the Russian Commonwealth)[3] is aregional organisation whose participating countriesare former Soviet Republics, formed during thebreakup of the Soviet Union.

The CIS is a loose association of states. Although theCIS has few supranational powers, it is aimed at beingmore than a purely symbolic organisation, nominallypossessing coordinating powers in the realm of trade,finance, lawmaking, and security. It has alsopromoted cooperation on cross­border crimeprevention. However, eight of the nine CIS membersstates form the CIS Free Trade Area, and five of theseform the Eurasian Economic Union, a customs unionand common market of over 180 million people. Inaddition, six member states participate in a mutualdefence alliance: the Collective Security TreatyOrganization.

Contents

1 History2 Membership

2.1 Participating states2.2 Associate states2.3 Former member states

3 Leadership3.1 Executive Secretaries

4 Human rights5 Military structures6 Associated organisations

6.1 Free trade area (CISFTA)6.1.1 19946.1.2 2011

6.2 Eurasian Economic Community6.3 Organisation of Central AsianCooperation6.4 Common Economic Space6.5 Collective Security TreatyOrganization

7 Other activities7.1 Controversial election observationmission

7.2 Interparliamentary Assembly

9 members1 participant

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 2/14

Population ­ 2008 estimate 276,917,629 ­ Density 12.53/km2

32.5/sq mi

GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate ­ Total $2,906.944 billion ­ Per capita $10,498

GDP (nominal) 2013 estimate ­ Total $2,808.844 billion ­ Per capita $10,113

Currency

Time zone (UTC+2 to +12)

Websitehttp://www.cis.minsk.by/

7.2 Interparliamentary Assembly7.3 Russian language status7.4 Sports events

8 Economic data9 See also10 Notes11 References12 External links

History

The organization was founded on 8 December 1991by the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation,and Ukraine, when the leaders of the three countriesmet in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Natural Reserve,about 50 km (31 mi) north of Brest in Belarus andsigned the "Agreement Establishing theCommonwealth of Independent States", known as theCreation Agreement (Russian: Соглашение,Soglasheniye), on the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the creation of CIS as a successor entity toit.[3] At the same time they announced that the new alliance would be open to all republics of the formerSoviet Union, and to other nations sharing the same goals. The CIS charter stated that all the memberswere sovereign and independent nations and thereby effectively abolished the Soviet Union.

On 21 December 1991, the leaders of eight additional former Soviet Republics – Armenia, Azerbaijan,Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – signed the Alma­AtaProtocol expanding the CIS to these states, thus bringing the number of participating countries to 11.[4]

Georgia joined two years later, in December 1993.[5] At this point, 12 former Soviet Republics (allexcept the Baltic States) participated in the CIS.

Between 2003 and 2005, three CIS member states experienced a change of government in a series ofcolour revolutions: Eduard Shevardnadze was overthrown in Georgia; Viktor Yushchenko was elected inUkraine; and Askar Akayev was toppled in Kyrgyzstan. In February 2006, Georgia withdrew from theCouncil of Defense Ministers, with the statement that "Georgia has taken a course to join NATO and itcannot be part of two military structures simultaneously",[6][7] but it remained a full member of the CISuntil August 2009, one year after officially withdrawing in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 SouthOssetia war. In March 2007, Igor Ivanov, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, expressed hisdoubts concerning the usefulness of the CIS, emphasising that the Eurasian Economic Community wasbecoming a more competent organisation to unify the largest countries of the CIS.[8] Following thewithdrawal of Georgia, the presidents of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan skipped the October2009 meeting of the CIS, each having their own issues and disagreements with the Russian Federation.[9]

In May 2009, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine joined the EasternPartnership, a project which was initiated by the European Union (EU).

Membership

There are nine full member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Ratified

Non­ratified

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 3/14

The Creation Agreement remained the main constituent document of the CIS until January 1993, whenthe CIS Charter (Russian: Устав, Ustav) was adopted.[10] The charter formalised the concept ofmembership: a member country is defined as a country that ratifies the CIS Charter (sec. 2, art. 7).

Turkmenistan has not ratified the charter and changed its CIS standing to associate member as of 26August 2005 in order to be consistent with its UN­recognised international neutrality status.[11][12]

Although Ukraine was one of the founding countries and ratified the Creation Agreement in December1991, Ukraine chose not to ratify the CIS Charter[13][14] as it disagrees with Russia being the only legalsuccessor to the Soviet Union. Thus it does not regard itself as a member of the CIS.[5][15] In 1993Ukraine became an "Associate Member" of CIS.[16] On March 14, 2014, a bill was introduced toUkraine's parliament to denounce their ratification of the 1991 Agreement Establishing the CIS,following the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, but was neverapproved.[17][18][19] Following a parliamentary election, a new bill to denounce the CIS agreement wasintroduced.[20][21]

In light of Russia’s occupation of parts of Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine,[22][23][24] as well as itsviolation of the Istanbul Agreement (see Adapted Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty),legislative initiatives to denounce the agreement on the creation of CIS were tabled in Moldova'sparliament on 25 March 2014, though they were not approved.[25][26][27]

Country[28] Agreement/protocolratified Charter ratified Membership status

Armenia 18 February 1992 16 March 1994 Member state Azerbaijan 24 September 1993 24 September 1993 Member state Belarus 10 December 1991 18 January 1994 Member state Kazakhstan 23 December 1991 20 April 1994 Member state Kyrgyzstan 6 March 1992 12 April 1994 Member state Moldova 8 April 1994 15 April 1994 Member state Russia 12 December 1991 20 July 1993 Member state Tajikistan 26 June 1993 4 August 1993 Member state Uzbekistan 4 January 1992 9 February 1994 Member state

Participating states

Country Agreement/protocolratified

Charterratified Membership status

Ukraine 10 December 1991 Not ratified Founding state; participates but notofficial member

Associate states

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 4/14

Meeting of CIS leaders in Bishkek, 2008.

Country Agreement/protocolratified

Charterratified Membership status

Turkmenistan 26 December 1991 Not ratified Founding state and unofficialassociate state

Former member states

Country Agreement/protocolratified

Charterratified Withdrawn Effective

Georgia 3 December 1993 19 April 1994 18 August 2008 18 August 2009

Leadership

Executive Secretaries

Name Country TermIvanKorotchenya Belarus

26 December 1991 – 29April 1998

BorisBerezovsky Russia

29 April 1998 – 4 March1999

IvanKorotchenya Belarus 4 March – 2 April 1999

Yury Yarov Russia2 April 1999 – 14 June

2004VladimirRushailo Russia

14 June 2004 – 5 October2007

SergeiLebedev Russia

5 October 2007 –Incumbent

Human rights

Since its inception, one of the primary goals of the CIS has been to provide a forum for discussing issuesrelated to the social and economic development of the newly independent states. To achieve this goalmember states have agreed to promote and protect human rights. Initially efforts to achieve this goalconsisted merely of statements of good will, but on 26 May 1995, the CIS adopted a Commonwealth ofIndependent States Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.[29]

Even before the 1995 human rights treaty, the Charter of the CIS that was adopted in 1991 created, inarticle 33, a Human Rights Commission sitting in Minsk, Belarus. This was confirmed by decision of theCouncil of Heads of States of the CIS in 1993. In 1995, the CIS adopted a human rights treaty thatincludes civil and political as well as social and economic human rights. This treaty entered into force in1998. The CIS treaty is modeled on the European Convention on Human Rights, but lacking the strongimplementation mechanisms of the latter. In the CIS treaty, the Human Rights Commission has veryvaguely defined authority. The Statute of the Human Rights Commission, however, also adopted by theCIS Member States as a decision, gives the Commission the right to receive inter­state as well asindividual communications.

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 5/14

CIS members, especially in Central Asia, continue to have among the world's poorest human rightsrecords. Many activists point to the 2005 Andijan massacre in Uzbekistan, or the cult of personalityaround President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow of Turkmenistan (though not a CIS member), to showthat there has been almost no improvement in human rights since the collapse of the Soviet Union inCentral Asia. The consolidation of power by President Vladimir Putin has resulted in a steady decline inthe modest progress of previous years in Russia. The Commonwealth of Independent States continues toface serious challenges in meeting even basic international standards.[30]

Military structures

The CIS Charter establishes the Council of Ministers of Defense, which is vested with the task ofcoordinating military cooperation of the CIS member states. To this end, the Council developsconceptual approaches to the questions of military and defense policy of the CIS member states;develops proposals aimed to prevent armed conflicts on the territory of the member states or with theirparticipation; gives expert opinions on draft treaties and agreements related to the questions of defenseand military developments; issues related suggestions and proposals to the attention of the CIS Councilof the Heads of State. Also important is the Council's work on approximation of the legal acts in the areaof defense and military development.

An important manifestation of integration processes in the area of military and defense collaboration ofthe CIS member states is the creation, in 1995, of the joint CIS Air Defense System. Over the years, themilitary personnel of the joint CIS Air Defense System grew twofold along the western, Europeanborder of the CIS, and by 1.5 times, on its southern borders.[31]

When Boris Yeltsin became Russian Defence Minister on 7 May 1992, Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, the manappointed as Commander­in­Chief of the CIS Armed Forces, and his staff, were ejected from the MODand General Staff buildings and given offices in the former Warsaw Pact Headquarters at 41Leningradsky Prospekt[32] on the northern outskirts of Moscow.[33] Shaposhnikov resigned in June 1993.

In December 1993, the CIS Armed Forces Headquarters was abolished.[34] Instead, 'the CIS Council ofDefence Ministers created a CIS Military Cooperation Coordination Headquarters (MCCH) in Moscow,with 50 per cent of the funding provided by Russia.'[35] General Viktor Samsonov was appointed asChief of Staff. The headquarters has now moved to 101000, Москва, Сверчков переулок, 3/2, and 41Leningradsky Prospekt has now been taken over by another Russian MOD agency.

The chiefs of the CIS general staffs have spoken in favor of integrating their national armed forces.[36]

Associated organisations

Free trade area (CISFTA)

1994

In 1994, the CIS countries "agreed" to create a free trade area (FTA), but the agreements were neversigned. The 1994 agreement would have covered all twelve then CIS members except Turkmenistan.[37]

2011

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 6/14

v • d • e (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Supranational_PostSoviet_Bodies&action=edit)

Euler diagram showing the relationships between various multinational organisations inthe territory of the former Soviet Union

In 2009 a new agreement was begun to create a FTA, the CISFTA.[38] In October 2011, the new freetrade agreement was signed by eight of the eleven CIS prime ministers; Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine at a meeting in St. Petersburg. As of 2013, it hasbeen ratified by Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, and Armenia, and is in force only between thosestates.[39]

The free trade agreement eliminates export and import duties on a number of goods but also contains anumber of exemptions that will ultimately be phased out.[40] An agreement was also signed on the basicprinciples of currency regulation and currency controls in the CIS at the same October 2011 meeting.[41]

Corruption andbureaucracy areserious problems fortrade in CIScountries.[42]

EurasianEconomicCommunity

The EurasianEconomicCommunity(EurAsEC or EAEC)originated from acustoms unionbetween Belarus,Russia andKazakhstan on 29March 1996.[43] Itwas named theEAEC on 10 October2000[44] whenBelarus, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Russia,and Tajikistan signedthe treaty. EurAsECwas formally createdwhen the treaty was finally ratified by all five member states in May 2001. Armenia, Moldova andUkraine hold observer status. EurAsEC is working on establishing a common energy market andexploring the more efficient use of water in central Asia.

Organisation of Central Asian Cooperation

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan formed the OCAC in 1991 as CentralAsian Commonwealth (CAC). The organisation continued in 1994 as the Central Asian Economic Union(CAEU), in which Tajikistan and Turkmenistan did not participate. In 1998 it became the Central AsianEconomic Cooperation (CAEC), which marked the return of Tajikistan. On 28 February 2002 it wasrenamed to its current name. Russia joined on 28 May 2004.[45] On 7 October 2005 it was decided

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 7/14

CSTO logo.

between the member states that Uzbekistan will join[46] the Eurasian Economic Community and that theorganisations will merge.[47] The organisations joined on 25 January 2006. It is not clear what willhappen to the status of current CACO observers that are not observers to EurAsEC (Georgia andTurkey).

Common Economic Space

After discussion about the creation of a common economic space between the Commonwealth ofIndependent States (CIS) countries of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, agreement in principleabout the creation of this space was announced after a meeting in the Moscow suburb of Novo­Ogarevoon 23 February 2003. The Common Economic Space would involve a supranational commission ontrade and tariffs that would be based in Kiev, would initially be headed by a representative ofKazakhstan, and would not be subordinate to the governments of the four nations. The ultimate goalwould be a regional organisation that would be open for other countries to join as well, and couldeventually lead even to a single currency.

On 22 May 2003, the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) voted 266 votes in favour and 51against the joint economic space. However, most believe that Viktor Yushchenko's victory in theUkrainian presidential election of 2004 was a significant blow against the project: Yushchenko hasshown renewed interest in Ukrainian membership in the European Union and such membership wouldbe incompatible with the envisioned common economic space. Yushchenko's successor ViktorYanukovych stated on 27 April 2010 "Ukraine's entry into the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus andKazakhstan is not possible today, since the economic principles and the laws of the WTO do not allowit, we develop our policy in accordance with WTO principles".[48] Ukraine is a WTO member.[48]

A Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia was thus created in 2010,[49] with a single marketenvisioned for 2012.[50]

Collective Security Treaty Organization

The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) (Russian:Организация Договора о Коллективной Безопасности) or simply theTashkent Treaty (Russian: Ташкентский договор) first began as theCIS Collective Security Treaty[51] which was signed on 15 May 1992,by Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistanand Uzbekistan, in the city of Tashkent. Azerbaijan signed the treaty on24 September 1993, Georgia on 9 December 1993 and Belarus on 31December 1993. The treaty came into effect on 20 April 1994.

The CST was set to last for a 5­year period unless extended. On 2 April1999, only six members of the CSTO signed a protocol renewing thetreaty for another five­year period, while Azerbaijan, Georgia andUzbekistan refused to sign, and withdrew from the treaty instead;together with Moldova and Ukraine, formed a non­aligned, more pro­Western pro­US group known asthe "GUAM" (Georgia, Uzbekistan / Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova). The organisation was namedCSTO on 7 October 2002 in Tashkent. Nikolai Bordyuzha was appointed secretary general of the neworganisation. During 2005, the CSTO partners conducted some common military exercises. In 2005,Uzbekistan withdrew from GUAM, and on 23 June 2006, Uzbekistan became a full participant in theCSTO and its membership was formally ratified by its parliament on 28 March 2008.[52] The CSTO isan observer organisation at the United Nations General Assembly.

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 8/14

CSTO members

GUAM members

Other CIS members

The charter reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force.Signatories would not be able to join other military alliances or other groups of states, while aggressionagainst one signatory would be perceived as an aggression against all. To this end, the CSTO holdsyearly military command exercises for the CSTO nations to have an opportunity to improve inter­organisation cooperation. The largest­scale CSTO military exercise held to date were the "Rubezh 2008"exercises hosted in Armenia where a combined total of 4,000 troops from all 7 constituent CSTOmember countries conducted operative, strategic, and tactical training with an emphasis towardsfurthering efficiency of the collective securityelement of the CSTO partnership.[53]

In May 2007, the CSTO secretary­general NikolaiBordyuzha suggested Iran could join the CSTOsaying, "The CSTO is an open organisation. If Iranapplies in accordance with our charter, we willconsider the application."[54] If Iran joined, it wouldbe the first state outside the former Soviet Union tobecome a member of the organisation.

On 6 October 2007, CSTO members agreed to amajor expansion of the organisation which wouldcreate a CSTO peacekeeping force that could deployunder a UN mandate or without one in its memberstates. The expansion would also allow all membersto purchase Russian weapons at the same price asRussia.[55] CSTO signed an agreement with theShanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, to broaden cooperation onissues such as security, crime, and drug trafficking.[56]

On 29 August 2008, Russia announced it would seek CSTO recognition of the independence ofAbkhazia and South Ossetia, three days after Russia officially recognised both.[57] On 5 September2008, Armenia assumed the rotating CSTO presidency during a CSTO meeting in Moscow, Russia.[58]

In October 2009, Ukraine refused permission for the CIS Anti­Terrorist Center to hold anti­terroristexercises on its territory because Ukraine's constitution bans foreign military units from operating on itsterritory.[59]

The largest military exercises ever held by the CSTO, involving up to 12,000 troops, were conductedbetween 19 and 27 September 2011 to raise preparedness and co­ordination in anti­destabilizationtechniques, to counter any attempts at popular uprisings like the Arab Spring.[60]

Other activities

Controversial election observation mission

The CIS Election Monitoring Organisation (Russian: Миссия наблюдателей от СНГ на выборах) is anelection monitoring body that was formed in October 2002, following a Commonwealth of IndependentStates heads of states meeting which adopted the Convention on the Standards of Democratic Elections,

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 9/14

Electoral Rights, and Freedoms in the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States. TheCIS­EMO has been sending election observers to member countries of the CIS since this time; theyapproved many elections which have been heavily criticised by independent observers.[61]

The democratic nature of the final round of the Ukrainian presidential election, 2004 whichfollowed the Orange Revolution and brought into power the former opposition, was questioned bythe CIS while the Organisation for Security and Co­operation in Europe (OSCE) found nosignificant problems. This was the first time ever that the CIS observation teams challenged thevalidity of an election, saying that it should be considered illegitimate. On 15 March 2005, theUkrainian Independent Information Agency quoted Dmytro Svystkov (a spokesman of theUkrainian Foreign Ministry) that Ukraine has suspended its participation in the CIS electionmonitoring organisation.The CIS praised the Uzbekistan parliamentary elections, 2005 as "legitimate, free and transparent"while the OSCE had referred to the Uzbek elections as having fallen "significantly short of OSCEcommitments and other international standards for democratic elections".[62][63]Moldovan authorities refused to invite CIS observers in the Moldovan parliamentary elections,2005, an action Russia criticised. Many dozens such observers from Belarus and Russia werestopped from reaching Moldova.[64]CIS observers monitored the Tajikistan parliamentary elections, 2005 and in the end declaredthem "legal, free and transparent." The same elections were pronounced by the OSCE to havefailed international standards for democratic elections.Soon after CIS observers hailed the Kyrgyz parliamentary elections of 2005 as "well­organised,free, and fair", as large­scale and often violent demonstrations broke out throughout the countryprotesting what the opposition called a rigged parliamentary election. In contrast the OSCEreported that the elections fell short of international standards in many areas.[65]International observers of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly stated the 2010 local elections inUkraine were organised well.[66] While the Council of Europe uncovered a number of problems inrelation to a new electorate law approved just prior to the elections[66] and the Obamaadministration criticised the conduct of the elections, saying they "did not meet standards foropenness and fairness".[67][68]

Interparliamentary Assembly

The CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, established in March 1995, is a consultative parliamentary wingof the CIS created to discuss problems of parliamentary cooperation.[69] The Assembly held its 32ndPlenary meeting in Saint Petersburg on 14 May 2009. Ukraine participates, but Uzbekistan does not.[70]

Russian language status

Russia has been urging that the Russian language receives official status in all of the CIS member states.So far Russian is an official language in only four of these states: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, andKyrgyzstan. Russian is also considered an official language in the region of Transnistria, and theautonomous region of Gagauzia in Moldova. Viktor Yanukovych, the Moscow­supported presidentialcandidate in the controversial 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, declared his intention to makeRussian an official second language of Ukraine. However, Viktor Yushchenko, the winner, did not doso. After his early 2010 election as President Yanukovych stated (on 9 March 2010) that "Ukraine willcontinue to promote the Ukrainian language as its only state language".[71]

Sports events

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 10/14

At the time of the Soviet Union's dissolution in December 1991, its sports teams had been invited to orqualified for various 1992 sports events. A joint CIS team took its place in some of these. The "UnifiedTeam" competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics and 1992 Summer Olympics, and a CIS associationfootball team competed in UEFA Euro 1992. A CIS bandy team played some friendlies in January 1992and made its last appearance at the 1992 Russian Government Cup, where it also played against the newRussia national bandy team. The Soviet Union bandy championship for 1991–1992 was rebranded as aCIS championship.

Since then, CIS members have each competed separately in international sport.

Economic data

The data is taken from the United Nations Statistics Division(http://unstats.un.org/unsd/snaama/selectionbasicFast.asp)& CIA [4](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the­world­factbook/fields/2195.html)

Country Population(2015)

GDP 2007(USD)

GDP 2012(USD)

GDPgrowth(2012)

GDPper

capita(2007)

GDPper

capita(2012)

Belarus 9,475,100 45,275,738,770 58,215,000,000 4.3% 4,656 6,710Kazakhstan 17,417,447 104,849,915,344 196,642,000,000 5.2% 6,805 11,700Kyrgyzstan 5,776,500 3,802,570,572 6,197,000,000 0.8% 711 1,100Russia 146,270,033 1,294,381,844,081 2,022,000,000,000 3.4% 9,119 14,240Tajikistan 8,610,000 2,265,340,888 7,263,000,000 2.1% 337 900Uzbekistan 29,994,600 22,355,214,805 51,622,000,000 4.1% 831 1,800Azerbaijan 9,356,100 33,049,426,816 71,043,000,000 3.8% 3,829 7,500Georgia 4,490,000 10,172,920,422 15,803,000,000 5.0% 2,334 3,400Moldova 3,558,200 4,401,137,824 7,589,000,000 4.4% 1,200 2,100Ukraine 42,818,000 142,719,009,901 175,174,000,000 0.2% 3,083 3,870Armenia 3,022,000 9,204,496,419 10,551,000,000 2.1% 2,996 3,500Turkmenistan 5,084,000 7,940,143,236 33,466,000,000 6.9% 1,595 6,100

See also

Regional organisations in post­Soviet statesEurasian Economic Union

Notes1. ^ The Commonwealth of Independent States and the Commonwealth of Nations are also calledthe "Russian Commonwealth" and the "British Commonwealth" respectively to differentiatebetween them.[72]

References

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 11/14

1. "Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Agreement"(http://www.unescap.org/tid/aptiad/viewagreement.aspx?id=CISFTA). Unescap.org. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

2. "Russia expects CIS countries to create free trade zone by yearend | Ex­Soviet States | RIA Novosti"(http://en.rian.ru/exsoviet/20100617/159463469.html). En.rian.ru. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 27 December2011.

3. Agreement on the Establishment of the CIS (http://www.therussiasite.org/legal/laws/CISagreement.html): 3founding countries, 8 December 1991 (unofficial English translation). Russian text here [1](http://www.cis.minsk.by/main.aspx?uid=176)

4. Alma­Ata Declaration (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/belarus/by_appnc.html): 11 countries accede to the CIS, 21December 1991 (English translation). Russian text here [2] (http://www.cis.minsk.by/main.aspx?uid=178)

5. Ratification status of CIS documents as of 15 January 2008 (http://cis.minsk.by/sm.aspx?uid=11368)(Russian)

6. 03.02.2006 (11 September 2001). "Georgia opts out of ex­Soviet military cooperation body"(http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/03­02­2006/75406­georgia­0). Pravda.Ru. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

7. "RIA Novosti ­ World ­ Georgia's quitting CIS council will not affect security ­ Russian minister"(http://en.rian.ru/world/20060203/43324440.html). En.rian.ru. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

8. Russia questions further existence of the CIS post­soviet organisation (http://www.infoniac.com/news/russia­nato.html) InfoNIAC

9. Pannier, Bruce. "Russia Facing Resistance With Allies On CIS's Southern Flank"(http://www.rferl.org/content/Russia_Facing_Resistance_With_Allies_On_CISs_Southern_Flank/1847880.html). Rferl.org. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

10. CIS Charter (http://www.therussiasite.org/legal/laws/CIScharter.html), 22 January 1993 (unofficial Englishtranslation). Russian text here (https://web.archive.org/web/20060723002729/http://cis.minsk.by/main.aspx?uid=180)

11. Decision on Turkmenistan's associate membership (http://www.cis.minsk.by/main.aspx?uid=4018), CISExecutive Committee meeting in Kazan, Russia, 26 August 2005 (Russian).

12. Turkmenistan reduces CIS ties to "Associate Member" (http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1061002.html),Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 29 August 2005.

13. Conflict in the Former USSR (http://books.google.com/books?id=O­v2Uhprr7cC&pg=PA44&dq=Ukraine+did+not+choose+to+ratify+the+CIS+Charter&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=PLSgUqm1McGR1AX16IGwAw&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Ukraine%20did%20not%20choose%20to%20ratify%20the%20CIS%20Charter&f=false). Retrieved 25 September 2014.

14. Russia and Nis Mineral Industry Handbook (http://books.google.com/books?id=to6U__f00b8C&pg=PA16&dq=Ukraine+founding+countries+CIS&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=07SgUvqLIIHJ0AWo2oCwBQ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Ukraine%20founding%20countries%20CIS&f=false).Retrieved 25 September 2014.

15. September 2008 Statement by Foreign Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Ohryzko(http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news­268085.html), “Ukraine does not recognise the legal personality of thisorganisation, we are not members of the CIS Economic Court, we did not ratify the CIS Statute, thus, wecannot be considered a member of this organisation from international legal point of view. Ukraine is acountry­participant, but not a member country”

16. Economic Interdependence in Ukrainian­Russian Relations (http://books.google.com/books?id=0IMaWuaYRnQC&pg=PA142&dq=CIS+Ukraine+membership&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=urWgUtGoNMLD0QWcwoGgAg&ved=0CHUQ6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=CIS%20Ukraine%20membership&f=false). Retrieved25 September 2014.

17. "Bill introduced to withdraw Ukraine from CIS" (http://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/bill­introduced­to­withdraw­ukraine­from­cis­339433.html). Kyiv Post. 2014­03­15. Retrieved 2014­03­27.

18. "Результати пошуку законопроектiв, зареєстрованих Верховною Радою України"(http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc2_5_1_J?ses=10008&num_s=2&num=0074&date1=&date2=&name_zp=&out_type=&id=). Retrieved 25 September2014.

19. "Draft documents on Ukraine’s withdrawal from CIS submitted to Verkhovna Rada" (http://en.itar­tass.com/world/733566). Information Telegraph Agency of Russia. 2014­05­27. Retrieved 2014­06­21.

20. "Проект Постанови про припинення членства та участі України в органах Співдружності НезалежнихДержав" (http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=52424). Verkhovna Rada. Retrieved2014­11­30.

21. "Проект Закону про зупинення дії Угоди про створення Співдружності Незалежних Держав"

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 12/14

21. "Проект Закону про зупинення дії Угоди про створення Співдружності Незалежних Держав"(http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=52644). Verkhovna Rada. Retrieved 2014­11­30.

22. Buckley, Neil (2014­11­25). "Georgia calls on west to condemn Abkhazia treaty with Russia"(http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0898a824­74a6­11e4­b30b­00144feabdc0.html#axzz3ZeRLwHMN).Financial Times. Retrieved 2015­05­09.

23. Rettman, Andrew (2015­05­07). "Donbas: A new 'black hole' in Europe"(https://euobserver.com/foreign/128618). Retrieved 2015­05­09.

24. "Russia Erecting Monument to 'Little Green Men' Who Took Over Crimea"(http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia­erecting­monument­to­little­green­men­who­took­over­crimea/519768.html). Moscow Times. 2015­04­26. Retrieved 2015­05­09.

25. In Moldova propose to denounce the agreement on creation of CIS(http://www.ukrinform.ua/rus/news/v_moldove_predlagayut_denonsirovat_soglashenie_o_sozdanii_sng_1616922). Ukrinform. 25 March 2014

26. "Proiectul hotărîrii cu privire la denunțarea Acordului de constituire a Comunității Statelor Independente"(http://www.parlament.md/ProcesulLegislativ/Proiectedeactelegislative/tabid/61/LegislativId/2227/language/ro­RO/Default.aspx). Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. Retrieved 2014­11­04.

27. "Proiectul legii cu privire la denunțarea Acordului de constituire a Comunității Statelor Independente nr.40­XII din 08.04.1994"(http://www.parlament.md/ProcesulLegislativ/Proiectedeactelegislative/tabid/61/LegislativId/2230/language/ro­RO/Default.aspx). Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. Retrieved 2014­11­04.

28. "Сведения о ратификации документов, принятых в рамках СНГ в 1991 ­ 2014 годах"(http://cis.minsk.by/reestr/ru/index.html#reports/rat/sved). Commonwealth of Independent States. Retrieved2014­10­10.

29. "Commonwealth of Independent States Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms"(http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/type,MULTILATERALTREATY,CIS,RUS,49997ae32c,0.html). 1995.Retrieved 24 March 2013.

30. "Democracy Deficit Grows in Former Soviet Union" (http://www.freedomhouse.org/article/democracy­deficit­grows­former­soviet­union) 2011. date retrieved 12 February 2014

31. "Информация о Совете министров обороны государств – участников Содружества НезависимыхГосударств" (http://www.cis.minsk.by/page.php?id=200). Cis.minsk.by. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

32. Johnson's Russia List #2142 (http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/2142.html), 9 April 199833. Odom, The Collapse of the Soviet Military, p.385­8634. Interfax, 22 December 1993, via Zbigniew Brzezinski, Paige Sullivan, 'Russia and the Commonwealth of

Independent States' CSIS, 1997, p.464 via Google Books35. SIPRI 1998 Annual, p.1836. "CIS chiefs of staff want military integration." (http://en.rian.ru/exsoviet/20101203/161615698.html) RIA

Novosti, 3 December 2010.37. "Free Trade Agreement Between Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, The Russian

Federation, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan And The Kyrgyz Republic"(http://www.worldtradelaw.net/fta/agreements/cisfta.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 23 July 2013.

38. Russia expects the CIS countries to create a free trade zone by yearend(http://en.rian.ru/exsoviet/20100617/159463469.html), 2010­06­17

39. CIS Free Trade Agreement comes into force; Baker & McKenzi, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, 18 October 2012(http://www.usubc.org/site/member­news/cis­free­trade­agreement­comes­into­force), 2011­10­18

40. CIS leaders sign free trade deal (http://en.rian.ru/russia/20111018/167833875.html), 2011­10­1941. Most CIS states sign free trade zone agreement (http://en.rian.ru/business/20111019/167852994.html), 2011­

10­1942. "Petro Jacyk Program ­ Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Toronto"

(http://www.utoronto.ca/jacyk/files/KuzioCorruptionCIS.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 25 September 2014.43. WTO WT/REG71/1 (http://docsonline.wto.org/DDFDocuments/t/WT/ACC/KGZ30.DOC)44. "Foundation Agreement Of Eaec Agreement On Foundation Of Eurasian Economic Community"

(http://www.worldtradelaw.net/fta/agreements/eaecfta.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 23 July 2013.45. "Central Asian Cooperation Organisation"

(http://ecetrade.typepad.com/Central%20Asian%20Cooperation%20Organization%20basic%20info.doc).Retrieved 23 July 2013.

46. "Working group discusses Uzbekistan's accession to EurAsEC"(http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051110/42053167.html). En.rian.ru. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

47. "Collective Security: A Timeline" (http://centralasia.foreignpolicyblogs.com/collective­security­organization­timeline/). Centralasia.foreignpolicyblogs.com. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 13/14

timeline/). Centralasia.foreignpolicyblogs.com. Retrieved 23 July 2013.48. Yanukovych: Ukraine won't join Customs Union (http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/65139/), Kyiv

Post (27 April 2010)49. "Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus plan on common economic space"

(http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20081225170003.shtml). Rbcnews.com. Retrieved 23 July 2013.50. "Russia expects CIS countries to create free trade area" (http://en.rian.ru/exsoviet/20100617/159463469.html).

En.rian.ru. Retrieved 23 July 2013.51. The Charter of the CSTO (http://untreaty.un.org/unts/144078_158780/5/9/13289.pdf)52. "Евразийский дом ­ информационно­аналитический портал" (http://www.eurasianhome.org).

Eurasianhome.org. Retrieved 23 July 2013.53. “Rubezh 2008”: The First Large­Scale CSTO Military Exercise | PfP Information Management System

(PIMS) (http://www.pims.org/news/2008/08/06/rubezh­2008­the­first­large­scale­csto­military­exercise)54. Chossudovsky, Michel. "Iran invited to join Central Security Treaty Organisation"

(http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5696). Globalresearch.ca. Retrieved 23 July 2013.55. "Gendarme of Eurasia ­ Kommersant Moscow"

(http://www.kommersant.com/p812422/CIS_CSTO_Russia_Lebedev/). Kommersant.com. Retrieved 23 July2013.

56. "Leading News Resource of Pakistan" (http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C10%5C06%5Cstory_6­10­2007_pg4_3). Daily Times. 6 October 2007. Retrieved 23 July2013.

57. Halpin, Tony (30 August 2008). "Kremlin announces that South Ossetia will join one united Russian state"(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4635843.ece). The Times (London). Retrieved30 April 2010.

58. "Armenian News ­ PanARMENIAN.Net | Armenian News Agency ­ CSTO Security Councils Secretariesmeet in Yerevan" (http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=26902). Panarmenian.Net. 3 September 2008.Retrieved 23 July 2013.

59. Ukraine refuses to hold CIS anti­terrorist drills on its territory(http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/51441/), Kyiv Post (29 October 2009)

60. Central Asian armies start exercises to counter potential Arab Spring­style unrest(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/tajikistan/8777123/Central­Asian­armies­start­exercises­to­counter­potential­Arab­Spring­style­unrest.html), The Daily Telegraph (20 September 2011)

61. "Election fraud: How to steal an election" (http://www.economist.com/node/21548933). The Economist. 3March 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.

62. "Foreign observers differ in their evaluation of the election in Uzbekistan"(http://enews.ferghana.ru/detail.php?id=85538093500.83,282,17595509). Enews.ferghana.ru. Retrieved23 July 2013.

63. Alexander Yakovenko, the Spokesman of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Answers a Russian MediaQuestion Regarding International Observers' Conclusions on Election Results in Ukraine and Uzbekistan(http://www.ln.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/0/030111d3b474a94cc3256f790042f6f9?OpenDocument)

64. CIS Observers Outraged by Deportation of Colleagues (http://www.azi.md/news?ID=33324)65. Kupchinsky, Roman. "CIS: Monitoring The Election Monitors"

(http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/04/e791916d­4690­4835­9f2d­d230541270e6.html). Rferl.org.Retrieved 23 July 2013.

66. EU will not condemn the local elections in Ukraine (http://razumkov.org.ua/eng/expert.php?news_id=2417),Razumkov Centre (3 November 2010)

67. Interview: Top U.S. Diplomat Discusses Regional Developments, Abuses, Stalemates, And Cooperation(http://www.rferl.org/content/Interview_Top_US_Diplomat_Discusses_Regional_Developments_Abuses_Stalemates_And_Cooperation/2211838.html), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (5 November 2010)

68. Ukraine's Ballot Flawed, U.S. Says(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703506904575592431134922388.html), The Wall StreetJournal (4 November 2010)

69. Information and Publish. Department. "CIS Inter­Parliamentary Assembly"(http://www.cisstat.com/eng/c3.htm). Cisstat.com. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

70. "Member Nations of the CIS" (http://www.iacis.ru/eng/parliaments/). CIS Interparliamentary Assembly.Retrieved 14 March 2015.

71. Yanukovych: Ukraine will not have second state language(http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/61283/), Kyiv Post (9 March 2010)

72. Vinep A Kankam­da­Costa (2012). Who Is Fit to Rule America in the Twenty­First Century and Beyond?(http://books.google.com/books?id=Vpf7nTErV64C). Xlibris. p. 271. ISBN 9781479739653. Retrieved

19/05/2015 Commonwealth of Independent States ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States 14/14

Wikimedia Commons hasmedia related toCommonwealth ofIndependent States.

External links

CIS Executive Committee (http://www.cis.minsk.by)Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of theCIS (http://iacis.ru/eng/)Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS(http://www.cisstat.com/eng/index.htm)Charter of the CIS (http://www.therussiasite.org/legal/laws/CIScharter.html)PINR ­ C.I.S. Struggles for Cohesion (http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=309&language_id=1)RZB Outlook For Commonwealth Of Independent States(http://home.globalcustodian.com/newsshow.do?newsid=26824)Food Security in Caucasus and Republic of Moldova (FAO)(http://www.foodsec.org/web/regional/europe/overview/en/)Kembayev, Zhenis. Legal Aspects of the Regional Integration Processes in the Post­Soviet Area.Berlin­Heidelberg: Springer Verlag, 2009 (http://www.springer.com/law/international/book/978­3­540­87651­9?changeHeader) (summary and sample pages).Belarus Leads The CIS In 2013 (http://belarusdigest.com/story/belarus­leads­cis­2013­12531)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commonwealth_of_Independent_States&oldid=661556864"

Categories: Commonwealth of Independent States Organizations established in 1991United Nations General Assembly observers Post­Soviet alliances Dissolution of the Soviet Union

This page was last modified on 9 May 2015, at 14:29.Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution­ShareAlike License; additional termsmay apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is aregistered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non­profit organization.

(http://books.google.com/books?id=Vpf7nTErV64C). Xlibris. p. 271. ISBN 9781479739653. Retrieved17 November 2013.