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Russia can enter WTO by the end of 2011

29 July 2011 08:50 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Talks concerning Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization could be completed in mid-December, a Russian negotiator said Thursday, Xinhua reported.

Maxim Medvedkov, Russia’s chief WTO negotiator, told reporters that the WTO general council could approve all the documents and accept Russia into the organization before its Dec. 14-16 meeting.

"This is a technical plan prepared by the chairman of the working group (on Russia’s accession to the WTO)," Medvedkov said.

He added that 43 out of 46 chapters of the final agreement with the WTO have already been finalized.

Also Thursday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barrozo discussed Moscow’s accession to the WTO during a phone call.

According to the government’s press office, the two sides have discussed the issues remaining on the agenda of negotiations over Russia’s entry into the WTO.

Russia, which has sought WTO membership for the past 18 years, is the largest economy remaining outside the global trade organization.