Communist Representative Criticizes Plans On Russia's Entering WTO

"Only enemies of our country" can incite Russia to enter the World Trade Organization "because results of this step are obvious even to non-specialists," Duma deputy Vasily Shandybin, a member of the Communist Party, announced at a meeting with journalists today. He noted that the main supporter of such plans is "Minister for Economic Development and Trade German Gref who is ready to turn Russia into big Germany from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean". The Duma deputy stressed that the deterioration of equipment of Russian enterprises reaches about 50 or 70 per cent and the level of professional skills of employees is worse than that during the Soviet period. As a result, in the event Russia enters the WTO, it will face large-scale intervention of imported goods, he forecasted. This, in turn, will paralyze more than 60 per cent of factories and plants and no less than 20 million people employed at industrial or agricultural companies will lose their jobs. The industrial crisis will result in reduction in the volume of collected taxes and authorities will have no assets for paying salaries to budget employees and military men as well as for paying student monthly allowances and pensions. This will lead to the breakup of Russia, i.e. to what the West is striving for. "The Far East of Russia will be occupied by China and Korea, the Kuril Islands as well as Sakhalin, Kamchatka and the Magadan region will belong to Japan, the Leningrad and Karelia regions - to Finland and the rest of the country will be divided between Germany, great Britain and France" the deputy concluded.