On December 3, Sergey Katyrin, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, spoke at the anniversary conference “60 years since the establishment of the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce”.
At the beginning of the meeting, he read out greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Grigory Karasin to the participants of the meeting.
The head of the Chamber noted that much had been accomplished in 60 years and recalled, in particular, the arrival of Fiat in the USSR and the creation of AvtoVAZ, which became the impetus for the restructuring of a huge sector of the country's economy.
“This was followed by dozens, if not thousands of projects in various industries and regions,” said Sergey Katyrin.
According to him, the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce is one of the few chambers that operates in Russian regions. This year alone, its representatives visited a number of key regions of the Russian Federation, including the Kirov and Lipetsk regions.
Sergey Katyrin emphasized that, despite all the difficulties of international relations, a significant number of Italian companies operate in the Russian market. According to some data, about 600 enterprises operate in the country with the participation of Italian capital.
Katyrin added that the RF CCI seeks to promote the maintenance of contacts between the business circles of all Western countries, noting the shift in the vector of trade and economic relations of the Russian Federation to the countries of the Greater South and BRICS.
IRCC President Ferdinando Pelazzo named the priorities for the development of economic ties in the current conditions. According to him, it is necessary to expand interaction between small and medium-sized enterprises of the two countries, including at the regional level. The RF CCI system can help with this.
IRCC General Director Yuri Agapov reported that the Chamber provides regular support to Italian enterprises in Russia and Russian small and medium-sized enterprises that want to enter the Italian market.
"We aim to bring Russian and Italian businesses closer together, and provide comprehensive assistance to representatives of enterprises," he said.
Acting Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in Italy Sergey Pirogov said that in recent years, with the tightening of the EU policy towards the Russian Federation, trade and economic ties with Italy have undergone significant changes. Thus, in 2023, trade turnover between the countries fell by 70% compared to the previous year.
Representatives of the business community also spoke: President of the Azbuka Vkusa company Denis Sologub, General Director of the Autocomponent Engineering-2 company Giorgio VERDUCI, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mercator Holding Stanislav Nikolaev, General Director of Marcegaglia Russia Filippo Li Gotti.
"We highly appreciate the productive activities of the IRTP in these difficult times under the leadership of the President of the Chamber Ferdinando Pelazzo," said Nikolai Gusev.
The events were attended by Vice President of the RF CCI, Vice President of the IRTP Dmitry Kurochkin.

By Nail Shakhvaliev,

Press Service of the Chamber