Regular Round of Talks Clarified Prospects of Russia's Entry into WTO

A regular round of talks has perceptibly clarified the prospects of Russia's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on conditions meeting the national interests of the country. Summing up the results of the meeting of the working group on Russia's entry into the WTO, which ended the day before, deputy head of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade Maxim Medvedkov pointed out "the intensive, pragmatic and concentrated" character of the talks.

In Geneva, the Russian delegation held multilateral consultations with the interested members of the working group on services, agriculture and energy. Bilateral talks on tariffs were also held with fourteen countries, and on services - with ten countries.

The head of the Russian delegation highlighted the success of the multilateral meeting on agriculture. "We have come very close to completing the debate on the system of financing agriculture," Medvedkov pointed out.

At the meeting on energy, "some of our main commercial partners agreed it was necessary to pass over to concrete discussion of correspondence of the elements of price formation and, in general, of the economic policy (of Russia) to the WTO norms", the Deputy Minister said. This discussion will start in April, Medvedkov noted.

The head of the Russian delegation said, "we have made serious progress with some partners". About twelve countries are already prepared to practically complete the negotiating process both on tariffs and services, Medvedkov pointed out.

A regular meeting of the working group will open on April 7.

Before the April round of the talks with the WTO it is planned to hold multilateral consultations with the interested members of the working group on technical barriers in trade (18 March) and on sanitary and phytosanitary norms (4 April).