Russia files two WTO lawsuits against EU, Ukraine - Medvedkov
MOSCOW. May 7 (Interfax) - On Thursday Russia filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the European Union over the anti-dumping measures with respect to Russian welded pipes and ammonium nitrate, and one against Ukraine over the anti-dumping measures with respect to ammonium nitrate, the head of the Russian Economic Development Ministry's Department of Trade Negotiations, Maxim Medvedkov, told Interfax on Thursday.
"On Thursday we requested consultations," he said, adding that this was the first stage in filing the lawsuit, and should these consultations fail over a 60-day period, Russia will be able to initiate the creation of panels of arbitrators on these two lawsuits.
According to Russia, the EU's anti-dumping inquiries into ammonium nitrate and welded pipes, and Ukraine's into ammonium nitrate violated EU and Ukrainian WTO obligations, namely: the cost price of products failed to take into account Russia's domestic energy prices, and instead relied on third countries' prices, i.e. use the so-called "energy corrections," Medvedkov said. "These measures resulted in significant damage to Russian suppliers," he said.
Russia decided to file a single lawsuit against the EU over ammonium nitrate and welded pipes because essentially, the claims are the same and this lawsuit correlates with an earlier one filed by Russia against the EU over energy corrections, Medvedkov said.
According to Russian experts, the measures taken against Russian products have effectively discontinued Russian exports of welded pipes to Europe (the measures have been in effect since 2008), and led to an approximately 1.5 fall in Russian exports of ammonium nitrate to Europe in 2014 in comparison with 2012 (when it stood at nearly $220 million), Medvedkov said.
