RUSSIA CAN “SURVIVE” WITHOUT WTO MEMBERSHIP, MEDVEDEV SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
October 19, 2011 – 19:31 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Russia will live on even if the World Trade
Organization (WTO) rejects its membership bid, President Dmitry
Medvedev said.

“If we are told that we are not fit for it for some reason, we can
live without it. This is absolutely true and I am absolutely sincere,”
Medvedev said.

“Everybody, and our partners in the WTO accession process should
understand that our joining is not only in Russia’s interests. It is
in the interests of various businesses, foreign businesses … for
reasonable regulation of international trade flows. It is a two-way
street,” Medvedev said.

The 150-member WTO is an international organization set up to
liberalize global trade and regulate trade and political relations
between its members. Russia, the only major economy not included in
the organization, has been seeking membership in the WTO for about
18 years.

Russia signed a free trade agreement on Tuesday with most of the
countries of the CIS, the successor group of former Soviet states.

Earlier this year, Russia set up a customs zone with Kazakhstan
and Belarus.

Russia had hoped to conclude WTO accession talks by the end of this
year, but obstacles remain over Russian insistence on support for
the agricultural sector and car production, RIA Novosti reported.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress