BRITISH-SOVIET TRADE TALKS IN MOSCOW

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 July 1947, Page 6

BRITISH-SOVIET TRADE TALKS IN MOSCOW

LONDON. July 12.

A Foreign Office statement issued late last night said that the BritishRussian trade talks in Moscow were continuing at high pressure. It should be known within the next few days whether agreement was possible. Sub’-committees were working on the terms of contracts for cereals, timber and canned fish. The statement added: “Mr Harold Wilson (leader of the British delegation), who has been maintaining close touch with the Cabinet in London, has now made a final offer in reply to the Russian request for readjustment of the terms of repayment of the 1941 war-time credit for the shipment of civil supplies to the Soviet Union. The offer, which goes a long way towards meeting the Soviet request, represents the farthest the British Government can go in view of Britain’s present overseas financial position.’’ The statement said that if the Soviet Government was not prepared to make an agreement on these terms Mr Wilson would be returning to London early next week; but if the negotiations continued it was thought that they might take another week to complete. The Moscow radio has announced that Russia this season sowed an additional 20,000,000 acres of grain and expects bumper harvests.