Public Council To Be Established On Russia Joining the WTO

Participants of an All-Russian conference "Economy of Russia and World Competitive Sphere (Russian Business and WTO)" made a decision to establish a public council under President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. It will deal with the process of Russia joining the World Trade Organization. Participants of the conference nominated Deputy Chief of the State Duma's Committee for Natural Resources Konstantin Remchukov to the post of the chairman of the council. According to a resolution signed at the end of the conference, the council will participate in the process of elaborating proposals for the Russian delegation in the negotiation process on Russia's membership in the WTO. In addition, the council will be responsible for notifying the Russian delegation about public opinion on this issue. Representatives of public organizations, industry unions, associations, regional unions of industrialists and entrepreneurs, as well as regional economic administrations, will be members of the council. At the same time, participants of the conference expressed serous concerns about speeding up the process of Russia joining the WTO. In particular, they stressed that Russia doesn't use all its opportunities and orients itself mainly toward the export of raw materials and natural resources.