Interfax: Russia may file 3-4 lawsuits in WTO in next 2-3 years – ministry

MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax) – Russia may file three to four lawsuits in the WTO over the next two to three years, Maksim Medvedkov, the head of the Economic Development Ministry’s trade negotiations department, said at a roundtable during a business strategy conference organized by Vedomosti newspaper in Moscow on Tuesday.

“In the next two to three years I see three to four disputes, which we will probably file lawsuits on,” he said.

There are around 70 restricted measures applied to Russia at the moment and business has shown an interest in changing or lifting 32 of them. “That means we will work hard on 32 measures. I think an agreement can be reached on most of them without resorting to formal procedures in the next two to three years. But, I think, we will not be able to settle some of them without initiating the corresponding procedures,” Medvedkov said.

Among the unresolved disputes are the Third Energy Package and the mechanisms of antidumping investigations in the EU, when energy changes are applied in relation to Russian products. “I cannot say what other measures lawsuits will be filed on, but I think it will be a total of three to four,” he added.