The FINANCIAL — KIEV. Ukraine's accession to the World Trade Organization was disadvantageous for the former Soviet republic, the country's economics minister has told the Segodnya newspaper, according to RIA Novosti.
Ukraine joined the WTO in 2008 under then-President Viktor Yanukovych. Neighbor Russia is the only major economy not a part of the global trade body and is still locked in negotiations over its membership.
"We joined the WTO on terms not very advantageous for us. Our leadership, especially under Yushchenko, tried to join the WTO to spite Russia," Vasiliy Tsushko said.
"Whether we did so or not is questionable, but we spited ourselves for sure. Because in joining the organization, we signed off on duties of 0% on 12,000 commodity items," he said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said last week he hopes that Russia will complete negotiations on its accession by the end of the year.
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