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Russia loses 400 million euros a year after EU expansion, according to ITAR-TASS. The losses sustained by Russian exporters after EU expansion are estimated to reach 400 million euros a year, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on June 15.

As a result of quotas introduced for Russian steel and grain supplies, the anti-dumping procedures against the major items in Russian exports, and a lack of access to the EU market of the Russian agricultural products subject to veterinary control, our exporters lose approximately 500 million euros each year," Lavrov said.

The elimination of negative consequences of the expansion is just part of the problem which Moscow tries to resolve with the European Union in the trade and economic sphere, the minister noted, "and although we were able to compensate the effect of applying the regime of restrictive trade with Russia - as practiced by the European Union - to the ten new members, the regime itself remains unchanged."

The European Commission began consultations over this issue just a few months ago, with the work proceeding in a very tight timeframe.

"Nevertheless, we succeeded in hammering out a joint statement. It was adopted in Luxembourg on April 27, simultaneously with the signing of the protocol that makes the agreement on partnership and cooperation binding for the new members," the Russian foreign minister said.

This statement helped settle a majority of issues and set the guidelines for resolving the remaining problems. Unfortunately, it was not possible to eliminate all the difficulties which Russia had to face after EU expansion, he noted.

For example, Russia was unable to access EU markets of agricultural products from May 1, Lavrov said.


18 June, 2004