WTO Tax Dispute Between EU, Russia to Be Resolved Through Talks - Moscow

The European Union in February asked the WTO establish a dispute settlement panel, claiming that Russia's high import duties on a range of goods hamper EU trade.

GENEVA (Sputnik) – Negotiations are the most constructive way of resolving the tax dispute between the European Union and Russia, the Moscow delegation said on Wednesday after a meeting of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) dispute settlement body.

Following a meeting earlier on Wednesday, the WTO decided to establish an arbitration group to resolve the Russia-EU dispute.

Russia’s representatives said that negotiating process was “the most constructive way of reaching mutually acceptable decisions in the current situation.”

The delegation emphasized that in the event of arbitration, Russian representatives were ready to champion the interests of Moscow using all the tools permitted by the WTO.

Russia joined the WTO in August 2012. Brussels has repeatedly accused Moscow of not meeting the commitments it undertook since becoming a WTO member.

The European Union has filed at least four cases against Russia, its third largest trading partner, within WTO frameworks.

For its part, Russia has initiated two cases with the WTO against the European Union. The first concerns EU anti-dumping measures for some Russian imports, while the second is over EU measures relating to the so-called Third Energy Package.