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STORYLINE Migrant workers, some stripped to their underwear in the sweltering heat, pick fragrant strawberries from the sprawling fields of Lenin State Farm - a former collective that has become one of the most successful farms around Moscow. Director Pavel Grudinin says his strawberries are better than anything else in the Russian capital because they go from field to shelf in under 24 hours. But with Russia joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO) next week, Grudinin is worried he'll be at a disadvantage. Thousands of businesses across Russia are also fearful as the country - after 18 years of negotiations - is set to join the WTO, which restricts import duties and subsidies in an effort to even the playing field for international trade. Grudinin says it will be hard for him to compete with US and European producers who can offer lower prices because they don't have to deal with corruption and bureaucracy. "First remove the administrative barriers, make the monopolists such as natural gas, power, oil suppliers stop doing whatever they want with us, so that the conditions are equal," he said. Corruption is rampant in Russia, which ranks 143rd out of 183 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. Businesses bribe police and fire officials to stop surprise inspections that require no official sanction. Electricity and gas companies collect informal payments for quicker access to their services. Some Russian trade groups say WTO membership could ruin thousands of businesses. About 500 people rallied on Tuesday in central Moscow in a Communist Party-organised protest against WTO ascension. "There are serious fears that for many Russian industries and agriculture this will be devastating because they will simply become helpless in front of the global competition and will be run over and many people will lose their jobs," said opposition leader, Sergei Udaltsov, of the Left Front movement. But analysts say WTO membership will serve to weed out inefficient business because they won't be able to compete with cheaper imports. "For Russia it unquestionably progress, it means the unification of the rules of game," said economist Julia Tsepliaeva. Lenin State Farm is one of the efficient ones, but even Grudinin says the treaty will burden him with unfair competition. Grudinin, whose farm brings millions of roubles (dollars) in taxes to state coffers and donates millions more toward local infrastructure and housing, says it has taken him three years to receive a permit to build a one-storey cowshed. He was forced to receive clearance from three airports - one of them 20 miles (30 kilometres) away - stating that it would not interfere in their flight paths. Once Russia enters the WTO, it will need to cut import duties dramatically and cap subsidies to the agricultural sector at nine billion (b) US dollars through to 2018, with that number falling after that. Parliament needs to approve the ascension by July 10, something almost sure to happen as Russian President Vladimir Putin - whose party controls parliament - says WTO membership will bring increased foreign investment and make Russian companies more competitive. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/6f0def3434d75539caf9027b3813e37a Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork