The Economic Effects of a Russia-EU FTA

The paper examines the effects of Russia joining the WTO taking into account energy sector reform and the impact of a future Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the enlarged EU and Russia. The paper uses Computable General Equilibrium Modelling techniques for quantifying the different possible scenarios. The scenarios include a standard assessment of the removal of tariff barriers including agriculture, services and removal of non-tariffbarriers. The results suggest that a potential FTA would be beneficial for Russia only if it would incorporate not only reduction in industrial tariffs but also in agriculture and liberalisation in services.