Modern Economy Poses New Challenges

One of the urgent issues of modern international relations is the conjugation of integration processes of various levels and depths in the CIS space. Today it is important to consider the situation, taking into acoount that within the CIS there is a Free Trade Zone and the EAEU, which unites five CIS member states, and there is an initiative of the RF President on development of large integration initiatives in the South Asian area. At the end of 2017 — the year of Russia’s presidency in the CIS — President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin at the informal meeting with the leaders of the CIS countries assured: “Deepening cooperation in various fields within the CIS framework meets the vital interests of the peoples of our countries. Together we’ll work to solve the tasks of social and economic development, strengthening stability and security of our states”. The state and prospects of increasing effectiveness of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the practical impact of its activities for all participating States, strengthening the international position of the Commonwealth — all these issues were discussed in the interview with the “ES” magazine by the Chairman of the Executive Committee — the CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Nikolaevich Lebedev.