The Value of EAEU Membership for the Russian Economy

The EAEU is a new economic integration grouping in the post-Soviet space. This union is of increasing interest as a subject of the world economy because it can become a new regional and global player. However the EAEC is inferior to this leading integration grouping, like the EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, and others. Benefits from the EAEU are distributed mainly among Russian partners. The main beneficiaries of the EAEU are Kazakhstan and Belarus, while Russia only invests in the alliance, so the existence of the alliance without Russia is unlikely to take place. Often, it is not even profitable for Russia to be a participant of EAEU. The Union positions itself as purely economic, but despite this, Russia pursues political interests in it, otherwise there would be no point in participating in it. The desire of Russia to be part of the EAEU is explained by the fact that the country can improve its competitiveness in the global system and strengthen its sovereignty with the help of this project. Many experts also argue that with the help of the union, Russia intends to regain control over the previously lost republics. However, this is not true vecause Russia is aware of the position of the post-Soviet countries that they can not damage its sovereignty and it also understands that it is impossible to restore previously lost control. The EAEU faces many difficulties. In particular, it does not cope with the sanctions of the West and the EU. Moreover, the only prospects for expansion of EAUE is Tajikistan, which slightly improves economic performance and gives little benefit to the EAEU participants.