TBILISI. Dec 23 (Interfax) - Russia's free trade agreements with Abkhazia and South Ossetia breach the WTO principles, in the opinion of the Georgian Foreign Ministry.
"The agreements are illegal: these regions [Abkhazia and South Ossetia] are occupied territories, which means they are not subjects of international law," Georgian First Deputy Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani told reporters on Sunday evening.
"One cannot expect this aid to be recognized by Georgia and the international community," he stated.
"This is not a step towards normalized relations with Georgia either," the diplomat added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the instruments of ratification of the trade accords with Abkhazia and South Ossetia on Saturday.
The agreements put into place the duty-free regime for imports and exempted from export duties gasoline and diesel fuel in the annual amounts of 50,000 tonnes for domestic consumption in Abkhazia for twelve months since the agreements take effect.
South Ossetia will enjoy the exemption from export duties of 35,000 tonnes of gasoline and diesel fuel for the same period.
Imports of sugar, alcohol and tobacco from South Ossetia and Abkhazia are not subject to the free trade regime.
The agreements were signed in spring 2012.