21 May 2004 17:38
Russia cancels telecom monopoly subsidies, cuts charges for EU airlines
Moscow: 21 May: Russia and the EU have agreed to demonopolize the Russian telecommunications market. This has been
stipulated in the protocol on support for the Russian Federation's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO),
which was signed in Moscow today.
The document regulates many issues of Russia's monopoly markets, and in particular, it abolishes subsidies to
the Russian telephone monopoly Rostelekom.
"The subsidizing of the monopoly will be stopped. We will introduce a new mechanism of subsidies to the
telecommunications sector at the expense of other, more profitable sectors of the economy," Russian Minister of
Economic Development and Trade German Gref told journalists.
For his part, EU trade commissioner Pascal Lamy said that a number of accords concerning the transport sphere had
also been reached in the sphere of services. He explained that the parties "have agreed to reduce overflight
charges for European airliners which fly over Siberia".
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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