RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/28 
23 December 2002 
 (02-7064) 
Working Party on the 
Accession of the Russian Federation Original:   English 
 
 
 
ACCESSION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 
 
Communication from the Government of the Russian Federation  
 
 
 The Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation has submitted a translation of the Statement made by Mr. A.L. Kudrin, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, at the opening session of the Working Party of the Accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO on 16 December 2002 with the request that it be circulated to members 
of the Working Party. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
Opening Statement at the 16
th Working Party on the  
Accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO  
by Mr. A.L. Kudrin, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation  
(Geneva, 16 December 2002)  
  
I would like to convey the warmest greetings and best wishes from the Chairman of the 
Government of the Russian Federation to you, to all the members of the Working Party on Russia’s accession to the WTO and also to the WTO Secretariat, who actively contribute to the Russian accession. 
I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate you with the coming holidays. I am glad to make a statement at today’s meeting.  
I have no intention to replace the Head of the Russian Delegation. My task is to 
underline the importance which the President and the Government of the Russian Federation attach to the rapid accession to the WTO on conditions that are acceptable for us and members of this Organization. 
Russia has been negotiating its accession to the WTO for eight years. But only now we 
are finally reaching the phase when the negotiations on final terms of accession begin. 
This is the result of a laborious and complicated negotiating process.  At present, most of 
secondary issues have been resolved and in each negotiating area both in goods and services, in systemic issues and other areas problems have been identified which require principal decision. 
The solution of these outstanding issues, and in our opinion there are rather few of them 
in each area, is a key for a rapid completion of our negotiating process as a whole. WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/28 
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 Such assessment of the state of play of the present phase of negotiations allows us to 
make the conclusion that there is nothing impossible in concluding the accession process by 2003. 
Such a development is possible only on condition that all circumstances turn to be 
favorable. But the masters of these circumstances are all those present here. 
I would like to emphasise that the accession to the WTO is a priority for us. 
Although Russia is not yet a member of the WTO, not a single decision on foreign 
economic policy and, as a matter of fact, in other spheres of domestic economic policy is adopted without taking into account the rules and norms of the WTO. 
The majority of civil servants at the federal and sub-federal levels have gained an 
understanding of the main principles of the WTO and make decisions taking into account the 
provisions of the WTO Agreements.          
A legislative process aimed at bringing the Russian legal basis and practice in 
compliance with the WTO requirements is almost completed. The accession of Russia to the WTO is gradually becoming one of the elements of daily economic life. 
We do consider the WTO first of all as a factor assisting but not limiting the economic 
development of the country and the modernization of its economy. The sooner the country will join the WTO, the more stable, effective and foreseeable the development of our economy will be. It will work according to general rules. At the same time we consider very cautiously the suggestions to accept  more commitments then required by the existing agreements of the WTO. The same applies to the suggestions limiting Russia’s possibilities to apply some of the 
instruments which are not prohibited and used by many members of the WTO. 
The accession of Russia, as well as accession of many other countries, should be 
considered as a unique process. Therefore, we are not ready to follow some of the precedents established by previously acceded countries. 
We do take into consideration that while undertaking the commitments within the 
framework of the WTO we will have to accept reasonable compromises with our trade partners. 
And we are ready to do that. However, let us look at this issue from a factual point of view.  
The whole history of the Russian external economic policy starting from the early 
nineties is the history of fundamental liberalization that practically has been done unilaterally. And what are the results? During the period of accession negotiations we have already reduced average import customs tariffs by more then one and a half time (from 16% to 10%).  
By dozens of times we have reduced the number of import and export licenses.  The 
institute of quantitative limitations has been abolished. The volume of state subsidies to the agriculture has been reduced by a factor of 50, I underline here, by 50 times. The services market which 10-12 years ago was closed for foreign operators has been substantially liberalized. 
So, we have done everything possible to meet the requests of our partners in accordance 
both with the letter and the spirit of the WTO Agreements. 
Let me be straight. There is a limit to the price that the Russian Federation is ready to 
pay for the accession. It is necessary to consider present economic realities and current level of  WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/28 
 Page 3 
 
 
 economic development, as well as the market structure that we have in place. It is not possible to 
jump them over. We are not able to do more than the state of economy and the long-term economic strategy of the country allows us to do. Most of all it covers both some requirements on access to the Russian market and systemic issues. The price is reasonable only if it is adequate to the value of service. The responsibility for the future of the Russian economy 
always stays with the Government. In Moscow, not in Geneva. The WTO does not have, 
unfortunately, any insurance fund to cover the mistakes of accession process.  
We are  ready to consider seriously any reasonable requests and to seek for the 
compromise. This attitude was clearly demonstrated by the series of plurilateral consultations held from September this year on the most sensitive and difficult questions of accession  - 
energy, commitments in the field of access to the services market and agriculture. We believe 
that such kind of intensive dialog on the main issues leads us to clarifying the ways of solving them and gives additional ideas on how to  build a compromise. At the same time some secondary unclarities are being removed. The appropriate ways out could always be found if there is a clear intention to reach the goal. 
Now, let me speak about something that is very important for some delegations for 
pushing negotiations forward. Namely, it is the situation with the introduction of necessary amendments and additions to the Russian legislation.       
We, in the Government, have a clear and unambiguous attitude to those draft laws. A 
green light and priority have been given for them. In practice we aim at adopting in spring 2003 by the State Duma a package of draft laws important for the WTO. It is not possible to stop this 
process. It is irreversible. That is why we are quite confident about it. 
There are no doubts that the Government of the Russian Federation sees its tasks in the 
ability of Russia to implement all assumed commitments and conditions of the WTO Agreements and the Protocol of accession by the time of accession. 
At the same time we expect that the WTO members would not raise, in the course of our 
accession process, certain issues that require final legal interpretation and formalization within 
the WTO. 
One of these issues, which relates to the dual  pricing in the energy sector, considerably 
slows down the process. We have stated several times and we are ready to repeat once again that the reform of the energy sector of Russia will continue at least because it meets the interests and requirements of the Russian economy. Many other WTO members, including the EU, 
pursue the same way. We do not consider, however, that the current situation with pricing is in 
conflict with the WTO rules, and we believe that this issue should be dropped from the agenda of the negotiations on the Russian accession. 
The second problematic issue is agriculture. We are prepared to any solution provided 
that as an outcome the Russian agriculture would be able to develop and compete with foreign 
supplies. I stress – to any solution. At present it can hardly be outlined, because the question of 
the future of agriculture has not yet been resolved within the Organization itself, among its members.  
Nevertheless, I am fully convinced that with a goodwill we can jointly solve this 
problem, as well as other issues, and come to the conclusion of the negotiations. 
What does it require from the point of view of the Russian Government? WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/28 
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 First.
 Consideration of the objective economic situation in Russia and mutual interests. 
We are moving along the road of liberalization, but it has its logic and its objective obstacles. 
Second.  Pragmatism. Many issues influencing the development of multilateral trade 
have not been resolved yet within the WTO. There are issues that can be resolved in the context of bilateral relations and bilateral agreements. Let us not spend time on them. 
Third.
 Optimal pace of negotiations. We believe that activities of the Working Party for 
the first half of next year should be carefully planned. We are ready for the most effective cooperation with our partners which would make it possible to move forward expeditiously the discussion of the Working Party report. From our side, we shall continue market access negotiations with the interested members of the Working Party in order to conclude them in 
general by next April or May. 
I rely, on your experience and able guidance of this process. You may consider these proposals too ambitious. But without ambition some issues may 
be discussed for years. The heads of the overwhelming majority of states represented here have repeatedly expressed their support for a rapid accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO. 
We are thankful for this political support. Now it is time to convert it into a text of the Accession 
Protocol.      
I would like to wish effective work to all members of the Working Party, especially 
taking into account the coming Christmas Holidays. 
__________