Antonio Fallico calls for a mechanism to be developed for Russian–Italian economic co-operation
The third Russian–Italian business seminar was held on Friday in Turin (Piedmont district). It focused particularly on trade and economic relations between Italy and Russia, co-operation in space exploration, the automotive industry and tourism.
The seminar was organized by the Italian non-commercial association Conoscere Eurasia, the Roscongress Foundation, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), and the Mayor of Turin, with the support of Banca Intesa, the Intesa Sanpaolo banking group, and the advocate’s bureau Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners.
Turin Mayor Chiara Appendino and Russian Ambassador to Italy Sergei Razov addressed those present.
The speakers at the seminar included: Intesa Sanpaolo President Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, President of the Compagna di San Paolo Francesco Profumo, CEO of S7 Airlines Vladimir Obyedkov, General Director of Avtotor Holding Alexander Sorokin, Vice President of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) Alexei Ponomarev, Technical Director of Thales Alenia Space Pierro Messidoro, Deputy General Director of Information Satellite Systems – Reshetnev Company Yuri Vilkov, Director of the Space Centre of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) Alessandro Golkhar, CEO of Telespazio Luigi Pasquali, and others.
“In anticipation of an improvement in the international situation and the hope that this might happen fairly soon, we repeat yet again that Italy is a natural and necessary partner for Russia, while Russia is a strategic international market for us,” Chairman of the Banca Intesa Board of Directors and President of the Conoscere Eurasia Association Antonio Fallico stated at the opening of the seminar.
Noting that, in 2017, the Russian economy should return to growth, he said: “This situation opens up great opportunities for Italian business, since it has the know-how needed by Russian companies for their development. This requires updating of the bilateral co-operation mechanism, which was previously restricted to exports of ‘Made in Italy’ goods, whereas, in the future, it will be goods marked ‘Made with Italy’ that will be needed.”
It was noted at the seminar that, given the current market situation, the goods turnover between the Piedmont district and Russia amounted to EUR 253m in the first six months of 2016, which is 6.99% less year-on-year. Imports from Russia fell by 12.6% and exports to Russia by 6.3%.
The seminar in Turin concluded a cycle of analogous business events organized by the Conoscere Eurasia non-commercial association, the Roscongress Foundation, and SPIEF in Italy in 2016. Such seminars, devoted to various sectors of the economy, were held in a number of major cities in Italy: Milan, Bari, Naples, Catania, Rome, Florence, Bolzano, and Bologna.
In addition, at the 20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2016, Italy was a special guest and had its own pavilion, organized by the Conoscere Eurasia Association. And, on October 20–21, Verona hosted the 5th Eurasian Forum, in which heads of over 600 companies from Italy, Russia, and other Big Eurasia countries took part, together with political figures, experts, and journalists.
