Russia's entry into WTO blocked by US
Putin at his annual press conference
Afp, Moscow
The United States is "holding out" on agreeing to support Russia's membership in the World Trade Organisation even though virtually every other country supports it, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday at a news conference in Moscow. "All our partners support us," Putin said. "Only the US is holding out." "I know the position of US President George Bush and it is positive," he continued, adding that the US business community also supported Russia's bid for WTO membership. "On the professional level everyone is clear on everything. On the political level: concrete steps towards each other are needed." According to the rules of the 149-state global trade body, prospective members have to sign bilateral agreements with trade partners before they are allowed to join. Russia still has to sign bilateral agreements with the United States and Colombia. Washington has insisted that Russia improve protection of intellectual property rights and lower taxes on airplane imports. Russia and the United States have also failed to reach an agreement on changing Russian legislation for the banking sector, which forces foreign banks to establish branches as Russian legal entities. "We believe that this is not acceptable since it does not allow to control the financial flow in the Russian Federation," Putin said. Russia was hoping was hoping to sign all bilateral agreements by 2005 but had to postpone until 2006 because of stumbling blocks in negotiations with the United States.
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