[autom.vertaling] Rusland beschuldigt de EU van het maken van WTO ingang moeilijk (en)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that it is unreasonable for the EU to expect Russia to raise energy prices as a condition for joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Speaking on Thursday before a forum of Russian and German businessmen in Yehaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains, President Putin said: "EU bureaucrats either don't understand it or deliberately put unacceptable conditions for Russia to join the WTO. We cannot move to world energy prices in a single day. It will ruin the country's economy".

The European Commission sees Russia's attitude towards energy pricing as an unfair state subsidy which distorts global competition.

Speaking at a press conference in Brussels, EU trade spokeswoman Arancha Gonzalez insisted that they were not forcing Russia to make unreasonable concessions.

"The WTO's adhesion process is not political, it's a process that consists in fulfilling rules and regulations that exist already at the WTO," she said "When a country doesn't meet them, it doesn't join".

Moscow also hopes to get its long-standing energy partner, Germany, on-side.

Following the dinner, which German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder attended, Russia said that the two sides had reached a preliminary agreement on a 1,860 mile pipeline to transport gas from Vyborg in north-west Russia to Germany.

The deal, between Russia's state-owned giant Gazprom and Eon subsidiary Ruhrgas of Germany, is worth a potential three billion euros. President Putin said he expects the deal to be signed in the next two or three days.

Russia to start pricing oil in euros

Mr Schröder also managed to secure agreement from Russia that it would start pricing its oil and gas exports in euros, rather than dollars, according to reports in the German media.

This is likely to be seen as a snub to Washington, which, like Brussels, is also keen to forge closer ties with Russia, which boasts the largest natural gas reserves in the world.

President Putin was reluctant to openly give specific details about this area of the talks, but said that it was something Russia was considering.

"We do not rule out that it is possible", he said. "That would be interesting for our European partners".