ABSTRACT
The principal purpose of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation was to encourage political stability and well-being through economic cooperation. Economic cooperation was to be promoted gradually, in view of the specific conditions and problems of the member countries in transition to the market economy. Since the 1957 treaty of Rome, which set out a common market model for the western European countries, regional integration has been a vivid issue in the agenda of policy makers. Regional integration arrangements assume several forms; the degree of integration increases as it moves from preferential trading areas to economic unions. Regional integration among industrial countries aimed to improve the welfare of participating countries by removing barriers to trade. The centrally planned system in the former Soviet Union created very large scale and dependent industries in each of the republics, which in turn made inter-republican trade an essential part of economic growth and development.
