Brussels, 16/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 15 November, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, determined to see his country join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) before the end of 2011, told his government to speed up discussions so that outstanding bilateral issues with the EU - including the contentious matter of Russian duty on timber exports - are settled “swiftly”. Medvedev has put Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov in personal charge of the issue. “Accession to the WTO is a major objective, and we will try to find agreements which take into account the interests of investors who have already invested in Russian timber processing companies and the interests of EU-based companies,” the Prime-Tass agency reports Shuvalov as saying on Monday. Russian is expected shortly to unveil its proposals with the aim of tying up talks with the EU on a bilateral agreement at the WTO on access to the goods and services market before the next annual summit which is due to be held in Brussels in December. A bilateral agreement of this sort at the WTO would pave the way for Russia's accession, which depends, too, on the similar, recently struck, agreement with the United States and multilateral commitments on Russia's part. Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht acknowledged last week that Russian duty on the export of timber was a “major obstacle” to the largest economy still outside the organisation which governs worldwide trade. (E.H./transl.rt)