Russia formally became a member of the World Trade Organisation today after 18 years of often  marked by strong resentment or cynicism  negotiations. Russia agreed to reduce import tariffs on goods, including food and cars and to relax controls on overseas companies entering its financial and telecom sectors. Russia will be the 156th member of the WTO.
WTO requires that any country that seeks to benefit from it must apply the same trade rules to all member countries. Russia negotiated for membership for 18 years, beginning when the WTO was called the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade