Tbilisi Claims Russia’s WTO Entry Terms Agreed in Principle

The Georgian and Russian sides have reached “an agreement in principle” on legalization of two border crossing points – one in South Ossetia and the other in Abkhazia, Tamar Kovziridze, Georgia’s deputy economy minister, told Civil.Ge on February 23.

“It is important that we have reached such an agreement in principle on legalization of two border crossing points for the first time,” Kovziridze said. “It is also important that Russia agrees to discuss this issue in the context of its membership to the WTO – that had not happened before.”

Kovziridze, who is Georgia’s chief negotiator in talks with Russia over WTO entry terms, said that concrete terms and the form of legalization hadn’t been discussed yet. “This will be the topic of the next meetings. Technical issues will be discussed during the next round of talks in March and April,” she said.

Tbilisi has long been insisting on several preconditions for supporting Russia’s WTO accession, including the legalization of trade at the two border crossing points. Moscow, however, had claimed the demands were politically-motivated and should be beyond the scope of WTO talks.

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