Only Formalities In Way Of Ukraine's WTO Entry WTO Representative.

Following the meeting of the WTO-Ukraine working group in Geneva yesterday, Chile’s representative to the WTO, Mario Matus, said that he believed the group’s next meeting in October would be the last before Ukraine joins the organization. According to Matus, Ukraine has only to go through certain formalities and could join the WTO as early as December 2007. Nick Piazza: Ukraine seems to be gearing up for its annual end-of-summer rush to join the WTO. Last fall Ukraine passed 41 laws, putting the country’s legislation in line with WTO norms. Now according Ukraine’s delegation to the WTO, all that has to be done is the passage several government orders by the Cabinet, however, it is not clear if this will be possible before October given the upcoming elections. Ukraine also needs to reach a bilateral agreement with Kyrgyzstan, but Matus said that the WTO would be likely to begin the accession process without Kyrgyzstan’s consent.