TRADE: Russia Joining, Joining…

After years of negotiations on joining the WTO, Russia is still far from meeting the requirements set forth by the organisation.

Russia has been negotiating entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) the global trade institution that regulates trade, for more than 15 years. Following another round of talks in Geneva May 25-29, WTO officials say they would like to see Russia join the organisation as soon as possible, but acknowledge that problems still exist.

"For Russia there are some problems in both the bilateral and multilateral negotiating arenas," WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told IPS on email. "Bilaterally there is some political opposition - Georgia has concerns about its relations with Russia - but there are also other countries with some commercial concerns related to energy services, textiles and some other products. Multilaterally there remain many problems." 

Read More