. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/ACC/RUS/66 
14 October 2011 
 (11-5093) 
Working Party on the 
Accession of the Russian Federation Original:   English 
 
 
 
ACCESSION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 
 
Communication from Georgia 
 
Letter from Ambassador H.E. Zurab TCHIABERASHVILI 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 11 Octobe r 2011, addressed to the Director of the 
Accessions Division, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of Georgia. 
 
_______________ 
 
  I have the honour to transmit herewith a lette r from Ms. Tamara Kovziridze, Chief Advisor to 
the Prime Minister of Georgia, and Chief Negotiator of Georgia in the negotiations on the Accession 
of the Russian Federation to the World Trade Organization, addressed to Ambassador 
Stefán Jóhanesson, Chairman of the Working Party on the Accession of the Russian Federation to the 
WTO.   On behalf of the Government of Georgia, I would like to hereby request that you kindly 
circulate the enclosed letter to the distinguished me mbership of the World Trade Organization at your 
very earliest convenience.   
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The present communication is the reaction of the Georgian side to the convening fax to the 
Working Party on the accession of the Russian Fede ration to the WTO circulated on 11 October 2011 
by the WTO Secretariat. 
 As you are aware, Georgia is constructively engaged in bilateral negotiations with the 
Russian Federation on the latter's accession to the WTO,  mediated by the Swiss side.  Seven rounds of 
negotiations took place between March and October 2011.  Despite Georgia's continued effort to 
reach a bilaterally acceptable solution, the Russian  Federation has thus far failed to show any 
flexibility in the negotiation process. 
 
The most recent round of negotiations of 7-8 October 2011 revealed once again that Russia's 
rigid negotiating position forecloses the possibilit y of finding a solution to Georgia's outstanding 
request, pushing negotiations into a deadlock.  Un less Russia changes its intractable negotiating 
position on key elements of Georgia's request, further progress appears unlikely, and leaves Georgia in a position where it cannot support Russia's WTO Membership. 
 
Georgia does not wish to inhibit and cannot prevent Members of the Working Party from 
exchanging views and discussing issues associated w ith Russia's WTO accession.  Nevertheless, the WT/ACC/RUS/66 
Page 2  
 
  communication of 11 October 2011, anticipating the organization of a Formal Meeting of the 
Working Party on 10-11 November, is  not consistent with WTO prac tice and Georgia's expectations. 
 We are not in a position to agree to holding of a Formal Meeting of the Working Party on  
10-11 November, unless our bilateral negotiations with the Russian Fe deration are concluded at that 
time and a bilaterally acceptable solu tion is found.  This solution shoul d be appropriately reflected in 
the Working Party Report before its final approval at  the Formal Meeting of the Working Party.   
  As a WTO Member, Georgia is deeply concerne d about reference in th e convening fax of the 
Secretariat to "unanimous support" of the Membership for the finalization of work on Russia's WTO 
accession over the next few weeks and the submission of the WP recommendation on the terms of the 
Accession of the Russian Federation for decision to the Eighth WTO Ministerial Conference.  Georgia 
has not been consulted about this specific measu re and has not provided its consent to it. 
  I look forward to maintaining contact with you on this matter, and will inform you as soon as 
Russia has agreed to fulfil its ob ligations as requested by Georgia and we have been able to reflect 
such agreement in a negotiated b ilateral document, allowing us to support the resumption of formal 
multilateral consultations in Russia's WTO accession negotiations.  In the meantime, our negotiating 
team and Georgia's Ambassador to the WTO remain av ailable to meet and discuss any further details 
if necessary.    
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