05.04.2012, 10:18:35

Picket against Russia's accession to the WTO. Photo by ITAR-TASS, Alexandra Mudrats

Habit "against"

Organization of a referendum on joining the WTO has begun in Russia

On April 4, opponents of Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization launched the process of organizing a referendum on this issue. The initiators of the popular vote intend to explain to Russians the negative consequences of WTO membership, convince them to vote against and go through the complex procedure of organizing a referendum. The initiators of the vote have 2.5 months left to do all this.

Russian authorities signed a protocol on accession to the WTO in mid-December last year after 18 years of negotiations. The accession procedure will be officially completed 30 days after the protocol is approved by the Russian parliament. The documents will be submitted for ratification by June 15, 2012. Only a few doubt that deputies will approve the documents in the spring session.

Immediately after the signing of the protocol, the Trade Union of Citizens of Russia (TRU) spoke out against the country's membership in the WTO and advocated holding a referendum, since such issues supposedly should not be resolved “behind the scenes.” Subsequently, the initiative for a referendum was taken up by the Party of Cause, whose leader Konstantin Babkin became the coordinator of the organizing committee of the popular vote.

Everything according to the plot

Russia's accession to the WTO

On April 4, the first meeting of the organizing committee took place, which brought together representatives of the most diverse organizations, movements and companies. All of them were united by one goal - to prevent Russia from joining the WTO. True, some stipulated that it was impossible to join on the current terms, clearly implying that additional preferences needed to be negotiated. Member of the Communist Party faction Andrei Tychinin complained that there is still no official translation of the 500-page protocol into Russian, and deputies have very little time left to familiarize themselves with the document. The communist representative called for postponing the issue at least until the autumn session.

Others have completely rejected WTO membership, such as PGR central council member Nikolai Starikov, who called the organization a “huge evil.” The same position is shared by the chairman of the central council "People's Council" Vladimir Khomyakov, who compared the WTO with the enemy at the gates and tanks near Moscow in 1941.

According to the meeting participants, Russia’s accession to the WTO is full of disadvantages: the collapse of light industry, aircraft manufacturing, mechanical engineering, agriculture, the flooding of the market with products containing GMOs, the increase in housing and communal services tariffs and gasoline prices, the closure of enterprises, the growth of unemployment “in geometric progression”, falling state revenues to the point of lack of funds to pay pensions.

This is precisely how the meeting participants explain the need to hold a referendum. To organize a national vote - the first since 1993 - it is necessary to organize a regional subgroup, then send a petition to the election commission, which will check the documents for about 15 days. From the moment of registration of a regional subgroup, it is necessary to create the same subgroups in at least 42 regions of Russia within two months. Then the Central Election Commission issues permission to collect signatures, which need to be collected about two million (45 days are given for this). After this, the Central Election Commission checks the authenticity of the signatures for another month.

Members of the organizing committee believe that one of the main obstacles is the extremely low awareness of Russians about joining the WTO, due to which the referendum could be in jeopardy (many simply will not come to vote because they don’t care). The meeting participants also admitted that they would have to act quickly, otherwise it would be impossible to organize a vote in 2.5 months. Konstantin Babkin noted that if he manages to meet the deadline, it will be “if not a miracle, then a great success.”

On this issue, Georgy Petrov, vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, agreed with the coordinator of the organizing committee. He assured, citing CCI lawyers, that the organizers of the referendum had no chance of holding a vote.

From Vladimir Putin's article "On our economic tasks"

I see all the challenges for a number of our industries with accession to the WTO. I want to assure you that I will do everything to mitigate the difficulties of the transition period as much as possible. But all manufacturers of industrial goods must understand clearly: the time of national markets is over. There will be no more cozy niches. In high-tech production there is only one - global - market. We cannot count on protectionist measures to diversify the economy. And not because we joined the WTO. We entered there precisely because we have an economy that is highly dependent on the foreign market both in production and consumption. But high import duties are paid by our citizens and our enterprises. Excessive protectionism always leads to stagnation, poor quality and high prices.

The vice-president of the chamber, who was the only supporter of joining the WTO among the speakers, noted that membership in the World Trade Organization would make the Russian economy more competitive. According to him, this will ultimately have a positive impact on consumers, who will be able to buy quality goods. Opponents immediately countered that, after joining the WTO, consumers would not have money for these goods due to the closure of enterprises and unemployment. Petrov, having listened to the arguments of the meeting participants, apparently regretted that the chamber had hosted a meeting of this kind: the vice president asked not to tell anyone that this event took place within the walls of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which caused an explosion of laughter in the hall.

In general, the positions of many opponents of joining the WTO were clear even before this meeting. Babkin, who in addition to his post in the Party of Deeds also holds the position of president of the Russian Association of Agricultural Equipment Manufacturers Rosagromash and is a co-owner of Rostselmash, fears the influx of more competitive Western equipment; farmers are opposed to imported food; The Communist Party of the Russian Federation has never supported capitalist structures, many others are also known more for their anti-Western position than for caring about Russian business.

Members of the organizing committee could not help but recall the country's leadership, which, without a doubt, advocates Russia's accession to the WTO. Deputy General Director of the Institute for Problems of Natural Monopolies Bulat Nigmatulin noted that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin apparently does not fully understand all the consequences, although the chairman of the government in one of his election articles argued exactly the opposite (see inset).

Discussing the role of government, the meeting participants came to the conclusion that it was impossible to do without political will in organizing voting. Everyone also agreed that ultimately the decision to organize a referendum depends on the head of the Central Election Commission. And Vladimir Churov’s position in relation to the current political course is known to everyone.

Sergey Kozlovsky

Habit "against"

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