Russia leaving WTO would be counterproductive - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) - Russia's departure from the World Trade Organization (WTO) would be counterproductive, Dmitry Birichevsky, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department for Economic Cooperation, said.

"I am certain that departure from the WTO is counterproductive. It won't bring our economy any dividends. Fully-fledged membership in the WTO allows our country to participate in the development and refinement of global trading rules, promote national priorities in the trade-economic sphere," Birichevsky said on the Rossiya 24 television channel.

If Russia refuses to participate in the WTO, customs duties in the Eurasian Economic Union will go down and will automatically correspond to Kazakhstan's obligations in the WTO, which are lower than Russia's, Birichevsky said. "In the end, Russia will be obligated to further observe the rules of this organization as a member of the Eurasian union, but it won't be able to make use of its advantage," he said.