CIS countries not to raise gas and electric energy prices in order to enter WTO

The member-countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) cannot agree to raise their internal prices on gas and electric energy to the level of the West European ones as a condition to enter the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Speaker of the Federation Council (Upper House of the Russian Parliament) Sergei Mironov spoke about it on Tuesday, addressing the Inter-Parliamentary Conference devoted to European cooperation.

Having pointed out that the formation of a single economic space between the European Union and the CIS presupposes the intensification of economic reforms in the Commonwealth countries, Sergei Mironov underscored that Russia "intends to reform the energy monopolies and to exclude a transport element from the gas price." "However, we cannot accept the WTO entrance condition, concerning the sharp increase of prices on gas and electricity to the level of Western standards," the Speaker of the Federation Council stressed.