European Union and Eurasian Economic Commission

gross domestic product: It has a combined population of 181 million and gross domestic product of around $2 trillion, according to The Moscow Times. Some see the Moscow-dominated grouping as a regional counterbalance to the European Union. The EEU, which includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, was launched in January to promote trade and economic integration. Critics say this is Russian President Vladimir Putin attempt to restore as much as possible of the former Soviet Union. "A historic act took place today," Viktor Khristenko, chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission board, said after the prime ministers of the five EEU member states signed the FTA with their Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung. "The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an old good partner of all the nations taking part in the Eurasian Economic Union," he told journalists after the signing ceremony in a lakeside resort area in northern Kazakhstan. By signing the FTA, the EEU aims to increase its foreign trade turnover with Vietnam to at least $10 billion in five years to $4 billion in 2014, he said. The free trade deal covers more than 90 percent of all goods traded between the EEU and Vietnam, Khristenko said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.