Commonwealth of Independent States. 15 years

Coins are round. The rim is raised on both sides of the coin. The edge of the coin is corrugated.

Obverse

in the center – the relief image of a building of Executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, at the top – the relief of the State Coat of Arms of the Republic of Belarus and inscription "РЭСПУБЛIКА БЕЛАРУСЬ" REPUBLIC
OF BELARUS); beneath: year of issue, fine silver alloy standard,at the bottom – face value "20 РУБЛЁЎ" (20 ROUBLES) – on silver coin and "1 РУБЕЛЬ" (1 ROUBLE) – on copper–nickel coin; inscriptions along the rim at the top – "РЭСПУБЛІКА
БЕЛАРУСЬ" (REPUBLIC OF BELARUS).

Reverse

in the center – the relief image of an emblem of the Commonwealth of Independent States which made on silver coin with pad–printing of blue, white and yellow paints; on a circle an inscription: " COMMONWEALTH of the INDEPENDENT STATES · 15 YEARS ".

The Commonwealth of Independent States was founded by the heads of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine by signing on December 7-8, 1991 at the Viskuli residence (in Belovezhskaya Pushcha) the “Agreement on the Establishment of the Union of Sovereign States” (USS), subsequently changed to the “Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States” (also known as the Bialowieza Accords).

The document, which consisted of Preambles and 14 articles, stated that the USSR ceased to exist as a subject of international law and political reality. However, based on the historical community of peoples, the ties between them, taking into account bilateral treaties, the desire for a democratic rule of law state, the intention to develop their relations on the basis of mutual recognition and respect for state sovereignty, the parties finally agreed on the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States[1].

Already on December 10, the agreement was ratified by the Supreme Council of Belarus and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and on December 12 - by the Supreme Council of Russia[2]. The Russian parliament ratified the document with an overwhelming majority of votes: “for” - 188 votes, “against” - 6 votes, “abstained” - 7[3]. The legality of this ratification even then raised doubts among some members of the Russian parliament, since, according to Art. 104 of the Constitution of the RSFSR, in order to ratify the Belovezhskaya Agreement, it was necessary to convene the highest body of state power - the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR, since the agreement affected the state structure of the republic, which is part of the USSR, and thereby entailed a change in the Russian constitution [4] [5] [6]. In April 1992, the Congress of People's Deputies of Russia three times refused to ratify the Belovezhskaya Agreement[7][8][9], until its dispersal in October 1993, it never ratified the document[10][11].

On December 13, 1991, a meeting of the presidents of five Central Asian states that were part of the USSR took place in Ashgabat: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The result was a statement in which the countries agreed to join the organization, but subject to ensuring equal participation of the subjects of the disintegrating Union and recognition of all CIS states as founders[12][13]. Subsequently, the President of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev proposed to gather in Almaty to discuss issues and make joint decisions.

The heads of 11 former union republics took part in the meeting, organized specifically for these purposes: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Georgia were absent from the former union republics) . The result was the signing of the Alma-Ata Declaration on December 21, 1991, which set out the goals and principles of the CIS. It established the provision that the interaction of the organization’s participants “will be carried out on the principle of equality through coordinating institutions, formed on a parity basis and operating in the manner determined by agreements between the participants of the Commonwealth, which is neither a state nor a state entity.” The unified command of military-strategic forces and unified control over nuclear weapons were also preserved, the parties’ respect for the desire to achieve the status of a nuclear-free and (or) neutral state, and a commitment to cooperation in the formation and development of a common economic space were recorded. The fact of the termination of the existence of the USSR with the formation of the CIS was stated[14]. A protocol to the agreement on the creation of the CIS was also signed[15]. The Alma-Ata meeting was an important milestone in state building in the post-Soviet space, as it completed the process of transforming the former USSR republics into independent states[12]. The last state to ratify the agreement on the creation of the CIS was Moldova (April 8, 1994), which had previously been an associate member of the organization. In 1993, Georgia became a full member of the CIS[16].

The first years of the organization's existence were largely devoted to organizational issues. At the first meeting of the CIS heads of state, which took place on December 30, 1991 in Minsk, a “Temporary Agreement on the Council of Heads of State and the Council of Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Independent States” was signed, which established the highest body of the organization, the Council of Heads of State. In it, each state has one vote, and decisions are made based on consensus[17]. In addition, the “Agreement of the Council of Heads of State - Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States on the Armed Forces and Border Troops” was signed, according to which the participating states confirmed their legal right to create their own armed forces[18].

The organizational stage ended in 1993, when on January 22, the Charter of the Commonwealth of Independent States[19], the founding document of the organization, was adopted in Minsk[20].