Russia keeps up pressure in WTO talks
Russia intends to complete negotiations on WTO membership by summer this year and could become full member in 2009, the director of the Information Bureau on Russia’s Accession to the WTO said to RIA Novosti today.
-If nothing unexpected happens, Russia will be a WTO member from January 2009, said Alexey Portanskii. Russia has already completed bilateral WTO talks with both the U.S. and the EU. Multilateral talks are underway now on agricultural support, export duties, veterinary matters and intellectual piracy, RIA Novosti reports. Earlier it was believed that Russia would join the 151-member organization by the end of 2007. -We will complete talks by the summer of 2008 if no other states signal the necessity to hold additional negotiations, Mr. Portanskii said
