Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini, co-chairpersons of the Russian-Italian Council on Economic, Industrial and Currency-Financial Cooperation, held talks in Moscow.
Dvorkovich pointed to the positive dynamics of economic and business cooperation. “There are dozens of Italian companies working in Russia, and this cooperation does not depend on foreign policy factors,” he said, expressing confidence that the sides will make progress in various areas in the near future.
Speaking about her meeting with representatives of Russia-based Italian companies, Mogherini said the business leaders admitted the existence of certain problems but did not consider them critical to their operation and planned to expand their activities.
Dvorkovich suggested resolving problems at the bilateral level rather than via the European Union. He referred, in part, to the lifting of restrictions on imports of pork from countries that have not registered hotbeds of African swine fever. It is possible to use this mechanism in other areas of cooperation as well.
The participants reviewed issues of cooperation in aircraft building, power engineering, telecommunications, postal service and preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
They also discussed plans for holding the next meeting of the council.