Furious at the snub, the Turks turned down the invitation (see article) and threatened to boycott goods and withdraw their application for membership by June if they were not added to the list of pre-accession countries.

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While accession to the WTO is not high on the list of the current leadership in the Kremlin, private investors like David Bonderman of TPG Capital have said that entry into the organization would ultimately help modernize Russian corporate law and transparency.

FORBES: Russia Inching Closer To WTO Membership

The accession process takes years, as countries have to fulfil a long list of requirements - economic, social and judicial.

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