Found an excuse

Participants of the international congress accepted Russia into the ranks of the WTO in advance

Progress in negotiations on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is visible to the naked eye. At yesterday's international congress dedicated to this event, the end of the year was mentioned by almost all participants as the date for our country's entry into the WTO. Even the congress itself significantly changed its name. If last year it was held under the title “Russia and the WTO,” now the event is called “Russia in the WTO,” as if we had already become members of an international trade club.

However, all participants clearly believed so. Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref even said that the ministry was already planning to publish a hitherto closed list of agreements on goods and services within the framework of the WTO negotiations, but was prevented by Vietnam and Cambodia, who wished to enter into negotiations earlier this year. Business representatives also declared in unison that the WTO has not frightened them for a long time.

We have been living in conditions of fierce competition for a long time, they said, and whoever was weaker has long left the market. And the new head of the Russian representative office of the World Bank, Klaus Roland, assured the audience that now Russia will definitely join this international organization, since both China and Vietnam became members of the WTO precisely at the time when he headed the regional offices. The President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, inquired with playful alarm whether this means that we have to join for another four years - the mandate of Mr. Klaus is designed for that many years.

On the one hand, there are very few countries left with which an agreement has yet to be reached. Despite the fact that Russia has already completed negotiations with 58 states, which, according to Mr. Gref, is an unprecedented event. Before this, China had the largest number of opponents - only 50. On the other hand, the negotiation process is full of surprises. Thus, Russia has yet to reach an agreement with Vietnam and Cambodia, which became known only at the beginning of this year. Moreover, if there is already an agreement in principle with Hanoi, then Phnom Penh has put forward, according to Mr. Gref, “an unacceptable demand for Russia to zero duties.” True, it is not yet known for what.

In addition, one of the most difficult negotiators remains - Georgia. According to the head of the Russian negotiating delegation, Maxim Medvedkov, the negotiations were supposed to take place in February, but “our colleagues were not ready for them.” Now, he expects negotiations to take place in April. However, Mr. Medvedkov did not dare to express even the most restrained optimism about their outcome. Political relations with Georgia are so strained that Tbilisi is unlikely to easily part with one of the few tools it has to put pressure on Russia.

In addition, another “sworn friend” of Russia, Ukraine, may soon become a member of the WTO. According to Mr. Medvedkov, “Ukrainian colleagues, according to our data, are at a more advanced stage of negotiations on accession to the WTO than Russia. There are rumors in Geneva that Ukraine may become a member of the WTO before the end of summer.” In this case, WTO rules allow Kyiv to also begin negotiations with Russia.

According to Mr. Medvedkov, Ukrainian colleagues have repeatedly stated that they do not intend to put obstacles in Russia’s way of joining the WTO, just as Russia will not interfere with Ukraine if it manages to join earlier. However, it is unlikely that after joining Kyiv will be able to avoid the temptation to make some demands on Moscow. In addition, Russia still has to complete a round of multilateral negotiations.

Vera SITNINA