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No negative consequences of Russia joining WTO expected

It is difficult to say how Russia’s joining of WTO will affect the Russian business as a whole

MOSCOW, November 15 (Itar-Tass) —— Negative consequences for business of Russia’s joining of the World Trade Organization (WTO) should not be expected, Sergey Katyrin, president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said here on Tuesday at the investment forum of the Russian-British Chamber of Commerce, entitled RussiaTALK-2011.

He added, however, that “the joining of WTO triggered various expectations.” “Agricultural producers fear that donations will be reduced. Bankers and insurance companies also have misgivings over the joining of WTO, but no special criticism is coming from them. At the same time, consumers believe that the growth of competition in the services sector will result in the reduction of prices,” he said.

According to Katyrin, “many industries in Russia are working in accordance with the WTO norms. They do not expect changes for the worse for them. People working in the small and medium business have no misgivings over the coming joining of WTO. Most of them work on the regional level and do not expect competition on the part of similar foreign companies.”

“It is difficult to say how Russia’s joining of WTO will affect the Russian business as a whole, because many people still do not quite understand on what terms Russia is going to join that international organization,” Katyrin said. In his opinion, some time later the analysis of the consequences should be done, on the basis of the real situation.

Katyrin said as well that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry had drafted suggestions of the business community concerning 144 legal acts. “They were taken into consideration during the adoption of the laws, but not as much as we would like. A new trend has been noticed of late: greater transparency during the drafting of laws and more active involvement of the business community in their discussion,” he said.

According to his information, the Russian authorities began recently to pay more attention to the war on corruption. A working group was created with the participation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina at the head. It is to prepare proposals on what legal acts should be amended and what new laws should be adopted for stepping up the war on the manifestations of corruption. Katyrin believes that all the economic laws, to be adopted by the Duma, should pass the examination of the business community.