CIS, an abbreviation for Commonwealth of Independent States, was founded in 1991 in Viskuli, Belarus. It is headquartered in Minsk, Belarus and has nine members with two non-members status. Initially, its aim was to provide economic grounds for free movement of goods and services along with the other factors of production. On top of that, it tries to create favorable economic circumstances for trade to prosper.
These efforts include intervention in monetary and customs along with external economic policy for development of economic relations between member states and rest of the world. Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia played an integral role in the formation of Common Economic Space after this. The CIS consists of Charter and Executive bodies.