"It is quite possible that the trade and economic problems connected with the EU expansion will be removed in Brussels on March 26," a source close to the negotiations told RIA Novosti earlier.
On March 1, ten countries: Cyprus, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Malta, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia will enter the European Union. According to the EU rules, trade restrictions, that is, quotas and other restricting procedures on the delivery of Russian products, approved by the European Commission, will start functioning in the territory of the new members of the European Union. The possible losses of Russia from this practice were initially estimated by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade at approximately 150 million dollars a year. However, at the beginning of March, Minister Gref said, commenting on the progress in the negotiations with the EU that Moscow will possibly not lose "a dollar." The negotiations were uninterruptedly conducted in the course of the past few months, and Russia has succeeded to achieve agreements on the preservation of the Russian goods' access to the markets of the new EU members. As to the deliveries of steel and nuclear materials, the quotas were even increased.
Russia delivers over 150,000 tons of steel a year to the future new members of the European Union. The sale of nuclear fuel to these countries annually brings 34 - 40 million dollars to Russia.
The greatest Russian concern is the problem of transit from Kaliningrad, the westernmost region of the country which on May 1 will become Russia's exclave in the European Union. In Lithuania, through which transit is being carried out, the carrier companies now pay great dues. By the present time, the sides have managed to come to an agreement that since May 1, the customs regime for transporting cargoes between Kaliningrad and the rest of Russia will not deteriorate, but will, possibly, be even simplified.
