On Wednesday, November 2, Russia and Georgia have reached an agreement on Russia's WTO entry. Georgia expects to sign the agreement that would allow Russia to enter WTO by November 10, according to the official Georgian negotiator Sergey Kapanadze.
Georgia was the last obstacle for Russia to enter WTO. On Wednesday, the two countries have decided upon the toughest question for Georgia, which became the reason why Tbilisi blocked Russia's entry into the organization - the monitoring cargoes going through the boarders of the two former Georgian regions of Abkhazia and the South Ossetia. Both countries decided they would draw in independent companies for trading's audit. These companies will also support customs of Russian and Georgia.
Earlier, on October 27, Tbilisi sent to Russia a final report of agreement on WTO. The main meeting of executive committee will be held on November 10-11. Russian officials express hope that the final decision upon Russia's WTO entering will be concluded at the WTO ministerial assembly in December.
Russia has been trying to become a member of the World Trade Organization since 1993. It is necessary to receive the agreement of all 153 the organization's members for entering. Georgia, who has the right to block entry of a new member (as do all WTO members), withdrew from the negotiations process in 2008 after a short war with Russia. The bilateral negotiations were renewed only in March 2010 through intermediary of Switzerland.
Sources: Lenta.ru Gazeta.ru Image: Rosbalt
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Author: Julia Alieva