MOSCOW, September 12 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian economics minister said Tuesday he is optimistic talks with the U.S. on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization will be completed this year, and that the country will accede to the WTO in the first half of 2007.
The United States remains the only country in the 58-member Working Party with which Moscow has yet to sign a bilateral protocol on its accession.
"I believe we will successfully complete talks in October," German Gref said. "With talks completed, we are hoping to join the WTO in the first half of 2007."
Following Gref's meeting with U.S. Moscow Ambassador William Burns last week, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry said a Russian delegation will go to Washington at the end of the month "to complete talks on the remaining issues."
"The negotiating schedule was drafted in terms of completing bilateral talks by the end of October," the ministry said.
There were hopes that the document would be signed at a July 15-17 summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in St. Petersburg, but a deal failed to materialize because of differences over meat imports.
Gref said some agriculture-related issues still remain unsettled.
"We are in active talks to resolve those very difficult issues," he said, adding that Russia will not give up its position on issues vital to Russia's economic development.
The U.S. had been pushing to gain access for its banks in Russia, but a compromise appeared to have been reached in the run-up to the G8 summit when Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said insurance companies - though not banks - would be allowed to open branches in Russia.
Gref said Russia is not seeking an agreement itself, but an agreement on maximum favorable terms, regardless of the time needed to reach it.
"If we have to sacrifice the timeframe, we will do so," he said.
Besides the U.S., Costa Rica, Moldova, and Georgia could also block Russia's WTO bid. The Central American country is insisting on a sharp reduction in Russian duties on raw sugar imports, and the former Soviet republic is concerned about its exports to Russia of wine and crops, as well as the value-added tax it pays on Russian natural gas.
Georgia withdrew its signature from a protocol on Russia's WTO accession bid in July until, it said, Russia changed its "discriminatory" customs regime on Georgian exports. Moscow said the move was more a matter of politics than economics.
