HONG KONG, December 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has signed a preliminary protocol on the accession to the World Trade Organization with Canada during the WTO Ministerial conference in Hong Kong, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref said Saturday.
Gref called the signing "a very important event," adding that the final protocol would be signed a few days later "for technical reasons."
"We fixed the completion of the talks today and signed a relevant agreement," he said.
Gref also said the conditions of this agreement were highly beneficial to Russia despite many problems the two countries had been facing during the bilateral talks.
