SOCHI, September 28 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will actively use World Trade Organization mechanisms to uphold the interests of domestic producers who have suffered as a result of restrictions against them, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Saturday.
Russia, which joined the world trade club as its 156th member in August 2012 after 18 years of negotiations, is going to make an active use of its WTO membership as “an instrument to protect the interests of our producers and exporters,” he told an international investment forum in Sochi.
That involves not only consultations but also the filing of lawsuits via WTO committees to “lift the restrictions that are currently in force against Russia and Russian companies,” the minister said, adding that at present there were about 70 prohibitive or restrictive measures of that kind.
“We are working to have them lifted,” he said. “Last year, 16 such measures were lifted, and another five in the first half of this year.”
That has saved hundreds of billions of rubles for Russian producers, according to the ministry’s estimates.
Ulyukayev said in July the Russian government had approved an array of measures it hoped would boost growth, including the tackling of problems related to Russia’s WTO accession, in particular supporting domestic enterprises that, the minister said, had suffered as a result of cuts in export duties.
