Kazakhstan

BELGRADE - Serbia's MPs and Kazakhstan's state delegation discussed on Thursday opportunities for improving comprehensive relations between the two countries even further, especially at economic level.

The Kazakh delegation invited Serbian parliamentarians to engage as observers in the presidential election scheduled to take place in Kazakhstan on April 26.

Kazakhstan on Thursday temporarily banned imports of cheap Russian diesel fuel and petrol to avert surplus and keep its own oil refineries running.

According to Deputy Minister for Energy Magzum Mirzagaliyev, the ban will be in force for the next 45 days.

Kazakhstan has been looking into the possibility of imposing embargo on certain Russian goods. Some imported products have experienced price a decrease as a result of the ruble devaluation over the past several months.

Turkey has yet to make an official application for membership of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), but it would be welcome to join, Kazakhstan?s ambassador to Turkey has said.

Turkey's top defense company Aselsan is seeking an established role in global markets by expanding its foreign operations, company officials said, as they inaugurated the leading military electronics specialist's production facility in the Jordanian capital Amman.

LUHANSK - The self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) called on Russia and 14 other countries, including Serbia, to recognize its independence.

LPR Supreme Council, municipal and regional congresses seek the recognition of LPR as a sovereign independent state, Russia's Itar-Tass reports.

Agreement signed establishing Eurasian Economic Union

ASTANA -- The presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus signed an agreement on Thursday establishing the Eurasian Economic Union.

"It will will compete with the economic power of the U.S., EU, and China," said media reports.

The Presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signеd on Thursday an agreement establishing the Eurasian Economic Council.

Kazakhstan's capital Astana saw the emerging of a 170-million-strong bloc in which free movement of goods, capital, services and working force are to be guaranteed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday arrived in the Kazakh capital where he was set to sign a deal with his Kazakh and Belarussian counterparts creating a new economic union championed by Moscow.
      
Putin, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev were due to sign the document in Astana following talks on Thursday.

Five cities have submitted their bids for hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

The applicant cities are Oslo (Norway), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Lviv (Ukraine), Beijing (China), and Krakow (Poland).

The executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will decide in July which cities will be accepted officially as Candidate Cities.