Uzbekistan completes negotiations with Russia on joining WTO

TASHKENT. Dec 22 (Interfax) - Uzbekistan has signed a protocol with Russia as part of the former's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the country's Special Presidential Representative for WTO Affairs Azizbek Urunov said.

"During President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's working visit to St. Petersburg, we, together with Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, have signed a protocol concluding our bilateral negotiations on market access as part of Uzbekistan's accession to the World Trade Organization," Urunov posted on social media.

Urunov expressed gratitude to Russia for the country's active participation in Uzbekistan's accession process.

Urunov previously noted that Uzbekistan is in the final stages of completing bilateral negotiations, with agreements having been reached with 33 countries and protocols already signed with 30 of them.

Uzbekistan's authorities are currently continuing to coordinate national legislation with WTO requirements. For example, the monopoly rights of several state-owned companies were revoked in June.

Uzbekistan obtained observer status in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in June 1994, and a working group on WTO accession was established in 1998. Negotiations were then suspended. In 2017, Uzbekistan's leadership resumed its WTO accession efforts. In July 2019, the Uzbek side submitted an updated memorandum on its foreign trade regime to the WTO for consideration of its application. Negotiations between Uzbekistan and WTO countries on the terms of accession began in late June 2022.