The EAEU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement: Expectations and Reality

The author analyzes the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Vietnam, focusing on the current stage in regard to Western sanctions against Russia. The scholarly academic discourse outlook of this topic in Russia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) helps to determine its problematic aspects. The study itself focuses at the geopolitical and economic effects of this FTA for the EAEU and Vietnam in the current global transformation. Then it considers trade relations of the parties, their dynamics, structure of commodity flows, indicators and characteristics of individual members participation. The assessments of investment cooperation and other forms of economic cooperation between the parties representing the key components of the FTA are summarized too. The author emphasi- zes the difficulties and obstacles facing the participants, and searches for lessons in the FTA implementation. The paper concludes, that the agreement with the SRV achieved a number of goals, but did not disclose the promised benefits of liberalizing the flow of goods, services, and capital. It recognizes that reduction of trade flows in 2022–2023 happened largely due to the Western sanctions against Russia, and their volume noticeably lagged behind expectations and forecasts. In general, the FTA members didn’t achieve a proper intensification of trade and investment. Commodity exchange, having become a core form of interaction, is marked by the growing weight of the Russian Federation and Vietnam, demonstrates contradictory trends in terms of both exports and imports, and a change in the structure of foreign trade that partly unprofitable for Russia.