Russian Market may stay closed to Georgia despite Russian membership of WTO

The Chief Sanitary Physician of Russia, Gennady Onishchenko, believes that Russia's membership of the WTO does not imply an automatic opening of the Russian market for Georgian wines and "Borzhomi" mineral water, RIA Novosti reports.

However, Onishchenko informed media that at the moment Russia is holding talks with Georgia on importing cognac produced by the Georgian company "Sarajishvili".

Russia imposed an embargo on Georgian wine and cognac in spring 2006 due to violations of sanitary regulations, particularly due to the detection of heavy metals and pesticides in imported products.