After 18 years of negotiation, Russia, on Wednesday, entered the World Trade Organization (WTO), which restricts import duties and subsidies in an attempt to create a level-playing field for international trade.

Analysts and politicians hope that Russia, which has long proven a formidable market to foreign investors because of its byzantine bureaucracy and protectionist tariffs, would be transformed by its entry into the WTO. Russia is one of the last major global economies to enter the group, which has long included other developing nations such asChina.

While consumers here will benefit from the lower cost of imported goods, some worry that struggling industries long coddled by state subsidies, such as agriculture or the automobile industry, will suffer because of foreign competition.

Russians often complain about the burdensome cost of Western-imported consumer products, which range from refrigerators to jeans. With its entry into the WTO, the country will cut its average import tariff by 5.9 per cent, making those imports cheaper.

M. Video, one of Russia’s largest electronics retailers whose shelves are packed with foreign-made CD players and American movies, said Russia’s entry into the WTO would bring more customers into their stores.

“We believe that (entry into the WTO) is going to be a very good decision for our customers in the future, because they will be able to purchase goods with prices harmonised with other economies,” said Enrique Fernandez, chief commercial officer of the company.