Ukraine is supposed to join WTO soon. Kremlin fears that once in WTO, Ukraine will leave Russian sphere of influence for good.
http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=618229Russia Drags Behind Ukraine in WTO Talks
Another round of bilateral and multilateral negotiations about the WTO membership for Russia started in Geneva October 14, 2005 to last for a week, till October 21, 2005. Maxim Medvedkov, who is in charge of the trade negotiations department at the RF Economic Development and Trade Ministry and who heads Russia�s delegation in WTO talks, doesn�t forecast prompt success. Meanwhile, Ukraine might enter the WTO before Russia.
Unlike Russia, Ukraine has agreed with nearly all countries willing to canvass the terms for goods/service provision and has to finish only some bilateral negotiations and hold the last sitting of the multiparty working group. Nevertheless, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy doubts Ukraine (and Russia the more so) will be able to complete the talks before the ministers� conference slated for Hong Kong December 13-19.
For Russia, the danger of the finish effort of Ukraine is obvious. In case of success in the WTO undertaking, a new member, Ukraine is bound to begin respective bilateral negotiations with Russia, the more so that it is one of its biggest commercial partners and both countries have serious trading disputes (Russia, for instance, has restricted pipe and sugar import from Ukraine). The last resort is Ukrainian Supreme Rada, where some parties, including the Party of Regions headed by Viktor Yanukovich, advocate not to rush to the WTO until this move is backed up by all national producers in the country.
One way or another, Russia�s negotiators have more problems to tackle than their Ukrainian counterparts. It is yet unclear when the working group�s talks on system issues (including the copyright protection) near the end. Medvedkov expects them to complete by summer at best.
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