Russia may quit some trade deals: Kudrin

By Gleb Bryanski and Darya Korsunskaya

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia may quit some of the trade deals it had entered as part of its bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) if it does not become a member this year, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Tuesday.

Some U.S. officials, including Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, have said that Russia's 15-year-old membership bid is at risk after the country sent troops into neighboring Georgia to support two breakaway enclaves.

Kudrin, who had until recently been Russia's chief WTO negotiator, said Russia had unilaterally accepted some trade obligations as part of the negotiations process but as the bid's future was becoming less clear, it grew more uncomfortable with it.

"The longer our accession is being delayed, the more a question arises about whether we should carry the burden of these obligations," Kudrin said in an interview at the Reuters Russia Investment Summit.

"If the talks do not conclude this year, we will adjust our commitments," Kudrin said.

Russia, the world's 10th largest economy, is the biggest country outside the watchdog, which sets rules for global trade.

Kudrin said existing obligations include meat trade quotas, transportation agreements and access to services sector including insurance. He did not elaborate on which agreements Russia was considering to quit.

Russia, the biggest market for U.S. poultry exporters, banned imports from 19 producers in the United States this month. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who announced the measure, said it was not linked to political tensions with the West.

POLITICAL REASONS

Kudrin said Russia still wanted to be a member and the membership would make Russia's trade policy more "predictable and focused".

He added that it was in some ways already better prepared to join the WTO than Ukraine, which joined earlier this year.

"There are no unsolvable issues in our WTO talks but we have still not become members. Obviously there are political reasons," Kudrin said.

"When in connection with certain events the United States and some other countries regard our accession as premature, we see politics interfering in trade issues...Such an approach is unacceptable."

President Dmitry Medvedev's top aide on economic issues, Arkady Dvorkovich, said at the Reuters Russia Investment Summit that the WTO accession progress required some decisions from the United States.

"I have serious doubts our American partners will make such decisions before the (U.S. presidential) election, although as I am aware, American businessmen want these decisions to be taken quickly," Dvorkovich said.  Continued...