Russia Hopes to Join WTO by 2006, Minister Says

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, August 14, 2003

Russia Hopes to Join WTO by 2006, Minister Says

Russian Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref predicted on Wednesday that Russia may join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2005-2006.

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Russian Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref predicted on Wednesday that Russia may join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2005-2006.

The most probable year of Russia's accession to the WTO is 2006,but "2005-2006 is a realistic period for us to do so," said Gref, adding that one year and a half is being taken into account for completing necessary procedures, including ratification by parliament of tariff proposals.

Russia is expected to complete accession negotiations in 2004, the Interfax news agency quoted Gref as saying.

However, Gref did not rule out that Russia might face "political problems" at the last stage of the negotiations, since "not all countries will be guided solely by economic reasons in supporting Russia's accession into the WTO."

He saw much similarity between Russia's current situation and the experiences of China in the process of striving for WTO membership, according to Interfax.

Russia, the largest economy still outside the WTO, has made eight years of efforts to join the organization.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that it is important for Russia to enter the WTO, but also stressed that WTO accession would not be a panacea for all economic challenges facing the country.

"The process of entering the WTO is sure to necessitate a higher competitive edge of the Russian economy," Putin told top officials from processing companies during a meeting in the Kremlin, adding that Russia's participation in global trade "will largely depend on the effectiveness of Russian producers' work at present and in the future."

"We shall have to address the fundamental issues by ourselves anyway," Putin stressed, citing some economic problems that troubles Russia, including the antidumping investigations against Russian goods, the non-tariff barriers, and the hunger for investment, Interfax reported.

Putin confirmed that the negotiations on Russia's WTO membership have already yielded positive results. He also expressed the belief that "participation in formulating rules of world trade will promote the successful development of Russian business and industries," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted the president as saying.

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