Four former Soviet republics agreed on Wednesday to improve transport links and create a free trade zone which has eluded the larger Commonwealth of Independent States since its inception.

Four former Soviet republics agreed on Wednesday to improve transport links and create a free trade zone which has eluded the larger Commonwealth of Independent States since its inception. Leaders of Georgia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova agreed at a meeting alongside the U.N. Millennium Summit to beef up their organisation, known informally for the past three years as GUAM, by holding regular meetings. They also pledged to work towards restoring the centuries-old "silk route" trade link enabling the free movement of goods, people and capital between Europe, the Caucasus region and Asia. "Things have truly changed. We have grown and it is now time to form something concrete," Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma told a news conference. Kuchma has been among leaders of ex-Soviet republics most critical of the performance of the 12-nation CIS, saying nearly all of the hundreds of decisions is has adopted since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union remain mere pieces of paper. The four countries formed GUAM as an informal group to find points in common outside the CIS, which they view as dominated by Russia -- by far the largest former Soviet republic. But GUAM, too, has remained largely an informal body with little political or economic clout. Sources close to the talks said the leaders approved a memorandum for the countries' presidents to hold annual meetings and for their foreign ministers to meet twice yearly.