Russia eager to accede to WTO this year

The successful completion of talks on accession to the WTO is among Russia's top priorities this year, Russian Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin announced when opening a conference of heads of the customs services of the European region of the World Customs Organization today. Russia has no intention of joining the WTO on arbitrary terms though, the official pointed out. The year 2004 is nothing but a desirable deadline, and the final results will depend on the talks, Kudrin emphasized.