KALININGRAD CARGO TRANSIT PROBLEM MAY BE SETTLED BEFORE MARCH 26

MOSCOW, MARCH 5. /RIA NOVOSTI / -- The problem of Kaliningrad cargo transit may be settled before March 26, Maxim Medvedkov, Russian deputy minister for economic development and trade, told journalists on Friday after talks in Brussels with the commission of the European Union.

"Within the next two weeks the talks will be continued and we hope to reach agreement on March 26, when the heads of the Russian and EU trade agencies are going to meet", Medvedkov said.

At this round of talks, "the EU commission has agreed to fix in the joint document the principles underlying transit between Kaliningrad (Russia's enclave on the Baltic sea) and Russia on the basis of the GATT (the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs) norms and other international documents regulating commodity trade".

"So far, differences on how these principles will be transformed into a relative compulsory document remain", Medvedkov said.

The commission has voiced readiness to streamline, starting on May 1, Russian transit via Lithuania, Medvedkov said.