WTO effect on Russia insignificant due to rouble weakening

The impact of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has become insignificant for the economy due to the rouble weakening and the instable global economy, Trade Minister of the Eurasian Economic Commission Andrei Slepnev told Itar-Tass. “Last year when we reduced the average tariff up to 7.8 percent the rouble weakened by about 10 percent in the spring to the summer 2012. This year we’ll watch the same correlation: we reduce tariffs by 1 percent from September 1 and the rouble weakens,” Slepnev said, adding, “We can hardly hope that the WTO can give any positive or negative effects for one year.” “The rules of the World Trade Organisation, the delay of our economy and the conditions for joining the WTO are that we can face the consequences in the middle-term or long-term period. But they are not strategic in their essence,” the minister said. “It is impossible to reveal the WTO effects and separate them from the others,” he said. The accession to the WTO coincided with the difficult period in the world economy, Slepnev said. “This is the double challenges for enterprises: on one hand, global instability and on the other hand, foreign producers, who seek to expand the sales owing to Russia’s accession to the WTO,” Slepnev said.