Ukraine gets prepared for litigation with Russia within WTO

Friday, June 3, 2016 - 11:07 (EEST) Section: Latest news

Ukraine`s Cabinet of Ministers on June 1 approved a bill aimed to streamline procedures in the field of protection of Ukraine`s commercial interests in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) standards.
Once the bill is passed by parliament, it will allow Ukraine to initiate three legal cases against Russia within the WTO, according to a Ukrainian government official.
”The adoption of this document will allow [Ukraine] to initiate the consideration of three legal cases against the Russian Federation within the World Trade Organization. We have already prepared drafts of relevant requests to hold consultations and set up expert groups,” Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv said.
According to the minister, the bill also regulates interaction between the government and businesses in the issues relating to preparations for the protection of commercial interests within the WTO and guarantees the confidentiality of participants of the process.
As UNIAN reported earlier, at a meeting of the WTO Council for Trade in Goods Ukraine demanded that Russia should immediately eliminate all trade restrictions, including the blockade of transit.
Eight members of G20, namely, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Turkey, Switzerland, and South Korea have supported Ukraine`s demands.
Ukraine`s Economy Ministry has been analyzing the situation regarding the obstacles faced by Ukrainian exporters when transporting goods to Asian countries and the Caucasus region through the Russian Federation.
In February 2016, Ukraine and Russia banned transit of cargo trucks through each other`s territory within the framework of reciprocal sanction measures. However, the parties agreed to resume transit on February 25. Ukraine outlined the transit routes to be used by Russian cargo trucks. The movement of cargo trucks to/from Russia is allowed through two border crossings in Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
The Ukrainian Economy Ministry estimated that Ukraine had lost $98 billion worth of trade volume due to Russia`s discriminatory and unlawful restrictions in 2012-2015.