Russia's Accession to WTO May Raise GDP by Third

Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation could raise Russia's GDP by 3.8% in the medium-term and by 28.8% in the long-term. As a Rosbalt correspondent reports, this was announced by Ksenya Yudayeva, an economist from the Moscow Carnegie Centre, who spoke on Friday February 21 in Saint Petersburg. She said that Russia's accession to the WTO will particularly benefit the metallurgy industry, the chemical industry, the woodworking and paper-making industries. The Russian services sector will suffer the heaviest losses.

Other estimates show, however, that the machine-building industry in the Urals, the North-West Federal District, the Central and Privolzhsk Federal Districts could be the most vulnerable. Light industry could also suffer, especially in the Far East Federal District. Industrial employment could go down by 1-2.7%, especially in the Ivanovo, Kurgan Regions and the Jewish Autonomous Region as well as the Adygeya Republic. Ms Yudayeva also said that Russia's accession to the WTO would not bring any significant changes in tariffs.