Russia to abide by WTO restrictions only after accession - Putin
MOSCOW. April 20. KAZINFORM Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Russia will begin to abide by WTO restrictions, in particular, those on support for agriculture, only after its full-scale entry into that organization; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.
"This is a very important and acute issue," Putin said in reply to a question from a State Duma member. "I do understand your concerns. The market of farm produce in the WTO countries, in particular, our European partners is now overloaded. The subsidies per hectare and in individual farming industries are very large, incompatible with Russian support for agriculture."
He recalled that Russia had room for maneuver, though.
"Firstly, during the negotiating process we managed to win terms and scale of subsidies that we still do not use today. The margin is colossal. I do not know if we shall be able to achieve such conditions some day," Putin said. "Secondly, we agreed with our partners and we told them outright that we will use various restriction tools only if we join the WTO in the full format," said the prime minister.
"But the talks have lasted a while already, 16-18 years, and nothing has materialized in this sense. We shall not forget about the rural workers, do not worry," Putin told the legislators.