Russia, the only major economy outside the World Trade Organization (WTO), moved one step closer to joining the trade bloc on Tuesday when it signed a memorandum of understanding on economic issues with the European Union.
"We have reached an agreement on all key bilateral issues, including export duties on timber and railway tariffs," European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht told a Russia-EU summit.
Moscow has been negotiating WTO entry for 17 years, although an average accession period for a nation is five to seven years. Russia is now likely to join the global trade body next year.
One of the stumbling blocks in negotiations with the EU was timber export duties, as Russia wanted to introduce prohibitive rates to stimulate the wood processing industry, but Finland, one of the main consumers of Russian timber, opposed the idea.
"We've managed to agree on duties on different types of timber. We are to cut them from the current level, but we'll still keep them above zero, which was discussed in 2004," Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina said.
"It was a serious issue in negotiations with the EU as many producers in states of the union use Russian timber."
The EU and Russia also agreed on railway tariffs to Russian ports, which the EU has said were unfairly favorable, she added, but did not elaborate.
BRUSSELS, December 7 (RIA Novosti)
