GENEVA, March 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russia may double the quota on foreign stakes in its insurance companies and banks as part of a bid to join the World Trade Organization, an economics ministry official said Sunday.
Maxim Medvedkov, who is the country's chief negotiator at the WTO accession talks, said the foreign-interest ceiling will be raised to 50% from the current 25% if the United States stops insisting that its banks and insurance companies should have the right to open affiliates in Russia.
According to the Bank of Russia, non-residents now hold less than 4.5% in the country's insurance companies and their stakes in Russian banks total 9%.
Medvedkov dismissed media reports that the Russian delegation to the WTO accession talks had agreed to allow U.S. banks and insurance companies to open affiliates in Russia. "That information is false," he said.
Russia will hold bilateral talks with the U.S., Canada, Australia and Columbia during the next round of its WTO accession negotiations, opening in Geneva Monday.
The Working Group for Russia's accession to the WTO will gather in the Swiss capital for a formal session Thursday.
