The trade-restricting Jackson-Vanik amendment hinders the development of Russian-U.S. ties, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
Putin told a meeting with the U.S.-based Chevron Corporation that such archaic barriers "were created in the previous epoch in relations [between the Soviet Union and the United States] and today hinder development."
The amendment, named after Congressmen Henry M. Jackson and Charles Vanik, was introduced in 1974 to restrict trade with the Soviet Union and other non-market economies until they allowed free emigration, especially of Jews, and other religious minorities.
Putin said that Chevron, alongside with other large U.S. companies including Boeing, set up a special group in 2006 to back Russia's World Trade Organization (WTO) entry bid as well as to "eliminate such archaic obstacles for our cooperation as the Jackson-Vanik amendment."
Chevron CEO John Watson said he would continue working towards removing trade barriers between Russia and the United States as part of a larger campaign to "reset" ties between the two countries.
OGARYOVO, June 17 (RIA Novosti)
