Vladimir Zharikhin proposed an alternative to the Union State of  Russia and Belarus

ArmInfo.  The creation of the Union State by Russia and Belarus was actually a "running ahead". This was stated by Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries  Vladimir Zharikhin at a press conference in Yerevan on October 11.

In his opinion, the creation of the Union State was connected, on the  one hand, with the desire of the then President of the Russian  Federation Boris Yeltsin to justify himself for the collapse of the  USSR, and on the other, with the hope of the President of Belarus  Alexander Lukashenko for the prime minister's chair.  ''In addition,  then, most likely, they hoped that Ukraine and Armenia would join the  Union State. In this case, we could talk about the formation of  supranational political structures (parliament, Audit Chamber,  court). However in case of two states this is almost impossible. The  same applies to the idea of a single currency'', the expert stressed.

As Zharikhin put it, the time has long come to create not a Union  State, but a close union of states. He cited the United States and  Canada as an example: roughly the same ratio of population to GDP,  economic integration, and so on. Meanwhile, as the expert noted, the  United States and Canada in these conditions did not create a Union  State, but formed a union of states.

''Lukashenko is used to the fact  of ''suspended construction'', that  is, the walls of the Union State are installed, the roof is there,  but there are no windows. There are no single laws by which this  Union State 'lives', and Lukashenko used to come every year in  December and squeeze out the laws of the existence of the Union State  for next year from President of the Russian Federation Vladimir  Putin, "Zharikhin said.

According to the expert, the Belarusian side does not perceive the  possibility of creating clear laws of the Union State in a positive  way. ''Lukashenko does not want this, he is nervous, begins to dare  and run into trouble. And from there, all his strange proposals to  arrange the Belarusian border guards between Ukraine and Russia, and  so on'', - said Zharikhin.

The treaty establishing the Union State was signed by Yeltsin and  Lukashenko on April 2, 1997. The supreme body of the Union State is  the Supreme State Council. In particular, the Border and Customs  Committees, the Commission on Tariff and Non-Tariff Regulation, and  the Broadcasting Organization have been formed and are operating  within the Union State. In other areas, work is carried out through  joint boards of the ministries and departments of Belarus and Russia.