Though striving to enter the WTO, Russia does not intend to give up its natural advantages

When entering the World Trade Organisation (WTO), "Russia does not intend to give up its natural competitive advantages which do not contradict the norms of the WTO." This concerns, in particular, the Russian domestic prices for energy sources.

Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Maxim Medvedkov spoke about it on Wednesday, summing up the results of the multilateral informal meeting on energy with the participation of representatives of more than forty member-countries of the Working Group on Russia's Entry into the WTO.

As the head of the Russian delegation said, the meeting participants discussed "the principles of regulation in the economic sector and prospects of reforming the energy sphere." According to him, there are signs that the positions of the sides on these questions are coming closer together. "Some members of the Working Group believe that this theme in general is not a subject for discussion, because the materials presented by Russia clearly show that the policy of regulating natural monopolies corresponds to the norms of the WTO," said Maxim Medvedkov.

He underscored that the Russian position "has remained the same - we are not ready to assume any commitments which exceed the limits of the rules" of the World Trade Organisation. The Russian Deputy Minister believes that the question of prices "is sham, because the entire world trade is based on the difference between the domestic and export prices, and the countries sell on the world market their best and cheapest products." The Russian side is ready to continue negotiations on this issue.