WTO sides with Russia vs Ukrainian duties on ammonium nitrate

MOSCOW, Jul 20 (PRIME) -- An arbiter panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has satisfied Russia’s suit against a Ukrainian decision to impose anti-dumping duties on imports of ammonium nitrate, as seen by PRIME in the WTO’s documents on Friday.

Ukraine raised the duties to 36.03% from 11.91% in July 2014 for five years on request from local fertilizer producer Ostchem. The company said that prices for natural gas for Ukrainian chemical plants and for Russian producers differ greatly. Russia filed its suit to the WTO in May 2015 saying that Kiev’s duties violate the WTO anti-dumping agreement.

The arbiter panel said that Ukraine has violated the WTO rules by failing to acknowledge Russian prices for gas and provide any reasonable grounds for the decision. Ukraine introduced its own factors in calculations of Russia’s internal prices for gas, and included private company EuroChem into the major dispute despite the fact that the company’s dumping margin was minimal, the documents of the WTO read.

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