The WTO Scholars Forum presents a lecture on

Russia's Accession to the WTO: Commitments, Processes and Prospects 

The Speakers: 
Richard Connolly (University of Birmingham) and Philip Hanson (Chatham House / University of Birmingham)

Chaired by Dr Fiona Smith (UCL) 

on Wednesday 24 October 2012
from 6 - 8pm at the UCL Faculty of Laws

Accredited with 2 CPD hours (SRA and BSB (pending))
 

About the keynote paper:
A range of issues linked to Russia’s forthcoming accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its implications for the Russian economy are addressed. The speakers describe the far-reaching commitments Russia has undertaken in the realm of tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and openness to inward investment, identifying factors that tend both to support and challenge realization of these commitments. They follow with a brief historical account of the reasons why the accession process for Russia was so protracted and an assessment of the likely medium- and long-term economic impacts of accession for the country as well as for its particular regions and social groups. The arguments suggest that the likely direct impacts of accession will overall be modest (at least over the near- to medium- term), and focused in spheres in which a foreign presence may enhance the productivity of Russian firms in the domestic market (e.g., business services). Potentially, more substantial indirect benefits will largely depend on the scale and seriousness of domestic reform policies launched in support of WTO compliance (i.e., effects of accession on Russia’s political economy) 
 

About the speakers:
Richard Connolly is a Lecturer in Political Economy at the Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham. His research interests focus on the political economy of the post-socialist region, especially Russia. After completing his doctorate at the Centre for Russian and East European Studies in 2009, Richard was appointed CEELBAS Postdoctoral Research Fellow until 2011, carrying out research on knowledge-based economic development in the post-socialist region. He was appointed Lecturer in Political Economy in October 2011. His current research on the comparative political economy of the post-socialist region focuses on industrial development and structural transformation, international trade, financial sector development, and the integration of the region into the wider global economy.
 

Philip Hanson is an Associate Fellow of the Chatham House Russia and Eurasia Programme and an Emeritus Professor of Birmingham University, where he also served as Director of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies. He has worked mainly on the Soviet and Russian economies, with some excursions into related fields. He is the author of a number of books, including Regional Economic Change in Russia (co-edited with Michael Bradshaw) and The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Economy, and of many journal articles. He has worked in the UK Treasury, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and Radio Liberty, and been a visiting professor at the universities of Michigan, Harvard, Kyoto and Sodertörns (Stockholm). In 2011 he was awarded the OBE for services to Soviet and Russian studies