Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin will pay a visit to Washington on Friday to attend the G20 and BRIC ministerial meetings and conduct talks on Russia's accession to the WTO, a source in the Russian delegation has said. The source said that finance ministers and heads of central banks of the 20 major developed and developing economies will gather to prepare the agenda for the next G20 summit. The forthcoming summit will focus on post-crisis recovery and reform of the Bretton Woods institutions.
"In essence, it [the meeting] will focus on specific measures of post-crisis tactics and strategy and specific aspects of Bretton Woods institutions reform. Specific issues, which will have an effect on the global economy and on regulating financial markets, will be discussed," the source said. The reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank will be discussed at their annual Spring Meetings to be held on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
The meetings were likely to produce a final decision on the World Bank reform and lay fundamental principles for the autumn meeting on the IMF reform, the source said. The Russian delegation has "very positive expectations" for bilateral talks on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization it will conduct with the U.S. government, the source said. "It seems that now we are approaching "the moment of truth," when we have real opportunities, at least with the U.S. partners, to close files on the limited number of issues which still remain on the agenda. We see an opportunity to resolve them in a few months or even weeks. We have very positive expectations," he said.
He added that Russia, the only major economy still outside the WTO, might join the organization by the end of this year, depending on the results of the talks. Russia has been seeking WTO membership since 1993. In June 2009, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan notified the WTO of their intention to join the world trade club as a customs union. Four months later, the three former Soviet republics announced they would resume talks on WTO accession separately, but working from synchronized positions.
