By Prensa Latina,
Kiev : Ukraine was definitely approved Friday by the General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to become member 152 of this multilateral institution.
The first sign of approval emerged February 5, when president Victor Yuschenko and the general director of the WTO, Pascal Lamy, signed the agreement in Geneva after almost 18 years of waiting.
The entrance of Kiev to the trade forum was backed on April 10 by the Ukrainian parliament (Supreme Rada) with 411 votes in favor of a total of 450.
In Geneva, the head of the Russian delegation for the negotiating process, Maksim Medvedkov, assured the entry of the Ukraine to the WTO will not harm national producers and would even accelerate the entrance of his own country.
His Ukrainian peer, Vladimir Baluga, stated Kiev is ready to boost the Doha Round with its sight put on liberalization of world trade and the process of admittance of new members.
Deputy Serguei Terejin favored that Ukraine should be part of the work group on Russia and bring up topics like energy and the creation of a free trade zone.
On advantages for Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy expects the entrance to the WTO would significantly increase treasury revenues with resources from foreign trade and the increase of yearly exports.
Among the risks, experts indicated that competition in the domestic market will increase.