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Russian ministry doubts pre-court settlement of Kiev’s WTO claim

Whether Ukraine’s claim is well-pleaded will be the matter of contention, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexey Likhachev said

MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/. Russia’s Economic Development doubts pre-court settlement of Ukraine’s claim to the World Trade Organization (WTO) against Russia, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexey Likhachev said on Thursday.

"Is pre-court settlement or counteraction possible? It’s not right to file counteractions. And I doubt pre-court settlement of the issue," he said.

Whether Ukraine’s claim is well-pleaded will be the matter of contention, Likhachev said, adding that Moscow considers "actions of regulators, which carried out railcars’ and point switches’ licensing, reasonable."

Now the claim will be thoroughly examined and respective consultations will be carried out with regulators and relevant departments, he said.

As TASS reported earlier Ukraine lodged a claim against the Russian Federation to the World Trade Organization. The claim is related to restrictions imposed on Ukraine’s railcars and point switches, Ukraine’s deputy minister of economic development Natalia Mikolskaya said on Wednesday. Ukraine expects the issue to be settled at the stage of consultations to be held within 30 days, she added.

Mikolskaya also said the complaint will be followed by similar ones, related to groundless imposition of restrictions on supplies of railroad cars from Kryukov car-building plant, Dnipropetrovsk switch-making plant and other manufacturers. Ukraine’s revenues dropped by 34 times - from $1.7 bln in 2013 to $51 mln in 2015 - due to restrictions imposed by Russia, she added.