STRELNA, July 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and the United States have reached a preliminary agreement on Western bank branches in Russia, the finance minister said Sunday.
"We have reached complete understanding with the U.S. on financial services," Alexei Kudrin told a news conference in Strelna outside St. Petersburg on the sidelines of a G8 summit held this weekend.
Kudrin said talks with the U.S. on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization would be completed by October.
"We do not expect any unfair play from our foreign partners on the issue of WTO agreement," Kudrin said.
"We have managed to ensure an essential and acceptable level of participation of foreign capital in the Russian financial sector," he said, adding that foreign banks even at present have the right to open 100% subsidiaries in Russia to be able to play on the Russian market on equal terms with domestic banks.
