Economic Minister: Ukraine Will Join The WTO In 1H06.

Following Ukraine’s meeting with the WTO, Deputy Economic Minister Andrii Berezny said that Ukraine would probably join the organization in the spring of 2006. Concorde Capital: Despite doing the loin’s share of the work, it looks as though the government’s efforts to join the WTO in 2005 are going to fall short. Ukraine still needs to reach agreements with five countries on ascension terms, however of the five, Australia is the only major stumbling block . In addition, the Rada needs to pass five laws which would put Ukraine?s legislation in line with WTO regulations. Ukraine may complete these tasks before the end of 2005, however, drawing up and finalizing the ascension agreement usually takes about three months. In any case, Ukraine is still on pace to join the WTO before Russia which earlier pushed back its goal to the end of 2006, early 2007.