MOSCOW, September 2 (Itar-Tass) - Russia wants to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on non-discriminatory terms and will not rush its accession at any cost, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Russia has been a full member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for more than a year. “It’s hard to say yet how the WTO membership has affected our economic operators in industry, the banking sector, agriculture, insurance or finance. But there has been no collapse. The forecasts made by those who said that Russian industry would die proved wrong. That our economy is now faced with an enormous challenge, a challenge of competitiveness, is good for our country,” Lavrov said at a traditional meeting with students and faculty staff of Moscow’s MGIMO University of International Relations on Monday, September 2.
Speaking about the accession talks with the OECD, the minister noted that “work is going on.” “We will not rush our admission at any cost as many of our neighbours did when they were joining the WTO. We want to join the OECD on the terms that will be non-discriminatory for Russia,” he said.
“I will not try to make guesses as to how long this may take. We should better focus not on artificial deadlines but on the work proper,” he added.