The trade between Italy and Russia has declined by 20 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ernesto Ferlenghi, the president of the Confindustria Russia association of Italian industrial enterprises, told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th September, 2020) The trade between Italy and Russia has declined by 20 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ernesto Ferlenghi, the president of the Confindustria Russia association of Italian industrial enterprises, told Sputnik.
"We as Italy are suffering from a 20 percent decrease of exchange between Italy and Russia. In the first half of 2020, trade between our countries slightly exceeds 8.4 billion Euros [$9.9 billion]. We have to understand that amount has already been falling down if you compare it with 2013-2014," Ferlenghi said.
To rebound from the slump in trade, Italy and Russia need to think of a new model of business localization, which would provide a fiscal advantage for the Italian companies willing to set up production in Russia, the executive noted.
At the same time, the Italian business needs to deepen synergy with the Russian authorities in order to have a better understanding of Russia's investment climate and Moscow's own plans in terms of joint ventures with foreign countries, according to Confindustria.
"The best solution for this might be some kind of a single-window system - a platform where a foreign investor could find all the necessary information about investment program, projects, local market, tax benefits," Ferlenghi noted.
The President of Confindustria Russia went on to call on the Russian authorities to grant permission for the return of highly-qualified foreign� specialists to the country, as their expertise is vital for successful operations of foreign business in Russia.
Some of the high-qualified specialists had to leave Russia due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and currently are unable to return due to the remaining lockdown restrictions and air traffic limitations.
In 2019, the trade between Italy and Russia amounted to some $25 billion, which is a 6.5 percent decrease from 2018, according to the statistics by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development.
