GOST standards were originally developed by the government of the Soviet Union as part of its national standardization strategy. The word GOST is an acronym for gosudarstvennyy standart which means state standard.
GOST refers to a set of technical standards maintained by the Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification, a regional standards organization operating under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Because GOST standards are adopted by Russia, the largest and most influential member of the CIS, it is a common misconception to think of GOST standards as the national standards of Russia. They are not. Since the EASC, the organization responsible for the development and maintenance of the GOST standards, is recognized by ISO as a regional standards organization, the GOST standards are classified as the regional standards. The national standards of Russia are the GOST R standards.
The following countries have adopted GOST standards in addition to their own, nationally developed standards:
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Moldova
Russia
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan