Russia has officially become the 156^th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The agreement on Russia’s WTO membership was signed in Geneva last December, after 18 years of tense negotiations. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin put his signature to the bill that ratifies the country’s entry to the WTO on July 21, which becomes law after 30 days. The Russian government hopes that the accession will help the country to stimulate economic growth and reduce its dependence on oil and gas exports.

Russia’s Economic Development Minister said that WTO membership will lower the costs of both imported and domestic goods. According to the World Bank, Russia will now be a 49 billion dollars better off, equal to 3.3 percent of its annual GDP for the first three years of WTO membership and this figure is likely to rise in the future.