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Saudi Arabia Agreed to Russia’s Entry to WTO
Saudi Arabia and Russia have inked a bilateral agreement on Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), RIA Novosti reported.
The media reported in May that Saudi Arabia challenged low domestic prices for gas in Russia and demanded to hike them up to the world level, but Russia’s negotiators didn’t yield to that requirement. Their reason was that they had managed to keep domestic prices when inking bilateral agreements with the United States and the European Union.
The RF Vice Premier, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin sealed the bilateral agreement on behalf of Russia, while Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Abdullah bin Ahmed bin Yosef Zainal Alireza signed it on behalf of the Kingdom.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulla discussed Russia’s accession to the WTO during the phone conversation on June 2; no details of that talk were disclosed to public at large.
Therefore, Moscow has sealed all bilateral agreements needed for the WTO accession, but its progress to that trading club is delayed by Georgia that calls for legalizing customs checkpoints in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Finland that presses for lifting wood export duties and the European Union that insists on diminishing agricultural support.
What’s more, Ukraine outpaced Russia en route to the WTO and may claim holding bilateral negotiations with Russia nowadays.
www.kommersant.com
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