Russia set to end 18-year wait to join WTO
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China Daily via Agencies, November 4, 2011
Negative impact for some firms
The WTO, which sets out to supervise and liberalise trade between its members and solve trade disputes between them, was once viewed by Moscow as an instrument of capitalist hegemony.
Opponents in Russia now say international companies will use their clout to stifle domestic producers although Russia says it has fended off attempts to split up gas monopoly Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas company.
Firms in aerospace, the auto industry and local manufacturers of tradable goods could suffer, analysts say.
"Concerns span fears about domestic industries losing against more competitive foreign counterparts, households finding it more challenging to adjust to the new environment, and Russia standing little to gain quantitatively," said Ivan Tchakarov of Renaissance Capital investment bank.
He dismissed the concerns as showing a lack of understanding of the size of the potential gains.
Georgia, which had been under pressure from its Western allies to reach a deal with Russia, offered what it called a final compromise trade agreement last week.
"We are happy that Georgia supported the draft agreement and that finally an agreement has been reached," Russia's WTO accession negotiator Maxim Medvedkov told Reuters by telephone.
Under a proposal worked out with Swiss mediation, Medvedkov said Russia had accepted the use of an independent company to audit data on trade between Russia, two rebel regions backed by Moscow, and Georgia.
"Russia and Georgia, as members of the WTO, would have to pass this data to an integrated database," Medvedkov said.
