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Final decision on Ukraine's entrance to WTO to be made on February 5th
This Friday the working group on the issue of the entrance of Ukraine to World Trade Organization (WTO) approved the report about the correspondence of the external trade regime of the country to WTO norms. This step let Ukraine join the organization as soon as on February 5th during the meeting of WTO General Council. There is a possibility that Ukraine will continue correcting the state legislation after WTO membership is approved, because nobody revealed all obligations assigned by the signed protocols.
The meeting of the working group on the issue of the entrance of Ukraine to WTO lasted for a little more than an hour on Friday in Geneva; it predominantly consisted of congratulation speeches. Valeriy Pyatnitskiy, Deputy Minister of Economics, Chief Delegate of Ukraine, informed
According to Mr. Pyatnitskiy, Ukrainian application for membership in the organization will be considered on the meeting of WTO General Council on the 5th-6th of February. Pascal Lami, WTO President, has already invited Victor Yuschenko, the head of Ukrainian state to personally attend the meeting of the council which is to approve the decision about Ukraine's entrance to WTO on the 5th of February. "The question about Ukraine's entrance is included to the agenda of the meeting of General Council", the source close to WTO Secretariat informed "Kommersant". "The agenda has not been released yet; taking into account the presence of the President of Ukraine, this point will probably be discussed as the issue of primary importance".
The unnamed representative of Russia participated in the meeting of Ukrainian working group; he saluted the soon entrance of Ukraine to WTO. There is an agreement between two countries not to create obstacles to the partner if one of them enters WTO first. "We have asserted many times already that Ukraine's entrance to WTO is not against any country including Russia", Grigoriy Nemyrya, Vice-Prime Minister confirmed "Kommersant" information.
By the way, this does not necessarily mean the absence of trade requirements to be introduced to Russia. Victor Yuschenko said during International Economic Forum in Davos that he is waiting for State Duma of Russian Federation to ratify Ukrainian-Russian free trade agreement dated 1993 and to reconsider the schedule of reconciliation of the questions about the quota arrangement for the products including sugar, spirit and tobacco postponed to 2009-2011. Earlier Sergey Terekhin (BUT), the Chief of Verkhovna Rada Committee of Tax and Custom Policy supposed that Ukraine will also claim Russia to cancel or decrease the tariff rates for oil exports.
WTO members will have no chance to set forth conditions to our country after Ukrainian trade legislation is approved by the working group. The experts admit the possibility that Ukraine will have to bring again the custom and tax norms in accordance to the obligations included to bilateral agreement. The full text of the agreements is not released until to the entrance to WTO. Julia Timoshenko, the Prime Minister, has ordered to analyze in details all documents signed in the framework of WTO just after she was appointed to this position.
Svetlana Taran, the expert of "CASE-Ukraine" center says that the requirements, recorded in the minutes, will enter into effect automatically in line with the ratification of the entrance to the organization by Verkhovna Rada. "These requirements are included to Ukraine's obligations to WTO; the international agreements are prior to inner laws", she observed assuming that the key changes have been already released and approved. "After Ukraine enters WTO, Julia Timoshenko will visit Brussels (on the 28th-29th of February - "Kommersant"); according to the conclusions of this visit the decision about changes to legislation will be made", Grigoriy Nemyrya informed "Kommersant".