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Front for Change leader suggests Ukrainian joining of working group on Russian entry into WTO

The goal of this document is to ensure national economic interests of Ukraine as a WTO member-state

KIEV, November 4 (Itar-Tass) —— Front for Change leader, ex-Speaker Arseny Yatsenyuk has presented to the Verkhovna Rada a draft resolution on Ukraine’s immediate joining of the working group considering the Russian admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The goal of this document is to ensure national economic interests of Ukraine as a WTO member-state, a source at the Yatsenyuk office told Itar-Tass on Friday.

Yatsenyuk proposed to send an inquiry to Russia concerning “the access of Ukrainian commodities and services to the Russian market and to settle the question of the deliveries and transit of Russian gas and gas prices.”

“Kiev has one card left in its negotiations with Russia, that is its membership in the WTO,” he said. “The Ukrainian joining of the working group, which is considering the Russian application for entry into the WTO, will mean that Russia will be unable to join the WTO without the Ukrainian consent.”

Ex-Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko declared the consent of Ukraine to the Russian membership in the WTO in 2008, “when Ukraine did not have the problems it has now and the world did not have an economic crisis,” Yatsenyuk said. “The situation is totally different now, and Ukraine should use this chance. The government has the right to apply for taking part in the negotiations any time before the Russian entry into the WTO and to inquire about the access of Ukrainian commodities to the Russian market,” he said.

The government, the Finance Ministry and the Economic Ministry declined the Itar-Tass request for commenting on a statement by Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Klyuyev who hinted to the parliament on Friday that Ukraine would demand a lesser gas price in exchange for the Ukrainian consent to the Russian entry into the WTO.

“We are considering the issue and using this lever in the negotiations with Russia on new terms of the gas delivery contract,” he said.