The Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) plans to establish a common market of gas and oil, Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Masimov told a meeting of the interstate council of the EurAsEC at the level of premiers on Wednesday.

According to him, an agreement on the common market of gas and oil within the EurAsEC is being developed now. The document envisages equal access to the national markets of oil and gas.

Masimov said the EurAsEC had established a regulatory framework for the common market, and it was necessary to expedite the preparatory phase. He added that all the EurAsEC member-states were supposed to coordinate their fuel and energy policies, deepen the interaction of oil and gas transport systems and harmonize supplies of natural gas to the domestic market of the EurAsEC and foreign markets.

The Kazakh premier also suggested setting up a Eurasian water supplying center to provide water resources for the region.

Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov noted that integration processes within the community had slowed down. Five agreements remain unprepared, including the deals pertaining to the common energy market, transport space and interstate branch programs. Kobyakov said he hoped 2007 would become a turning point in the history of the community, and all processes would be “more energetic and efficient.”

Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev noted the following barriers: intricate border-crossing procedures, insufficient cooperation in the energy sector, transport, communications and absence of free transit.

Also, Atambayev suggested abolishing labor restrictions within the EurAsEC to relieve social strain in the region.