BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

09/06/2009

Putin: Russia to WTO only with Kazakhstan, Belarus

By CATRINA STEWART

MOSCOW -- Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus plan to join the World Trade Organization as a single unit and are ceasing individual talks on accession to the global trade body, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

The move envisages the three neighboring former Soviet countries joining as one economic bloc rather than individual countries and is likely to slow accession for Russia, which has been seeking membership for 16 years.

Russia is the largest economy outside of the 153-member trade body.

"The prime ministers of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will notify the WTO of their intention to start negotiations on the accession of the tripartite customs union to the organization and the end of national negotiations on WTO membership," Putin was quoted by ITAR-Tass news agency as saying after a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Community.

"Entry into the WTO is our common priority, but we want to do that as a common customs space," Putin was quoted as saying.

Russia's bid to join the WTO appeared to accelerate last week after the European Union said it expected to conclude talks with Russia by the end of this year.

U.S. trade representative Ron Kirk said recently there was a "willingness" to complete talks before President Barack Obama visits Russia in July, but reiterated U.S. criticism of Russia's decision to ban some U.S. meat imports over fears of swine flu.

Analysts said the latest move would impede Russia's accession because Belarus is still far from meeting the trade body's accession requirements.

"I don't believe the WTO holds any benefits for Russia," said Nataliya Orlova, an economist at Alfa Bank in Moscow. "Russia has just signaled that its relations with its closest neighbors are more important."

A spokeswoman for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Natalya Timakova, told Russian agencies that Russia was not looking to slow the process but that the customs union arrangement was mutually beneficial.

Putin said the customs union should be in place by 2010.

AP business writer Natalya Vasilyeva contributed to this report.

Source:

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/06/09/ap6522375.html

Google
 


Partners:
Face.by Social Network
Face.by