WTO rules deleted for Russian sanctions: Putin
September 19, 2014, 4:44 am

Putin at the State Council meeting with State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin (left) and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on 18 September 2014 [PPIO]

“The limitations introduced against our country are nothing but a violation by some of our partners of the basic principles of the WTO. The principle of equal access for all countries involved in economic activity to the markets of goods and services is being violated; the most favoured nation treatment in trade and the principle of fair and free competition is being ignored,” Putin told a State Council meet on Thursday.

The US and the European Union announced new sanctions last week to punish Moscow for its alleged backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine. This round’s sanctions targeted Russian state-run and private oil and gas companies, including Gazprom, Rosneft, Transneft, and Lukoil.

“All this is politicised, there is no adherence to the generally recognised rules of the World Trade Organisation that I have just mentioned. A number of countries have actually unilaterally deleted these and some other WTO principles for Russia, which is one of the six largest economies in the world,” he added.

Against the backdrop of increasing sanctions, Putin on Thursday said the Russian economy can survive only if it becomes more domestically self-reliant and more competitive on the global markets.

The survival of Russian enterprises, he said, would also depend on their ability to produce high quality goods.

“Russia must offer the global markets not only raw material, but also final machinery products,” he said, adding that the country should make a big leap in the next year-and-a-half to two years to increase competitiveness of its real sector.

The Russian Ministry of Economic Development predicts a GDP growth of 1.2 per cent in 2015, while the Bank of Russia expects the country’s economy to grow by 0.9-1.1 per cent next year.

In an address to a joint session of the US Congress, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday asked for lethal military assistance from the US for the Ukrainian army.

TBP