ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2022) Negotiations between Italian business elite and Russian President Vladimir Putin were timely enough, a co-chairman of Italian-Russian business committee on economic cooperation and the Pirelli CEO, Marco Tronchetti Provera, said on Friday.
On Wednesday, Putin had a virtual meeting with the heads of leading Italian companies, including Pirelli. It was reported on Thursday that the Italian government had asked the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce to cancel the talks due to tensions over Ukraine. The Italian Council of Ministers told Sputnik that it regarded the online meeting as a private initiative and that the government was not involved.
"We have two factories in Russia. They successfully operate and manufacture products for both domestic and international markets. We have 1,500 employees working there and we continue investments. We believe in development of Russian market and we believe that common ground can be found amid a crisis. We are sure that the equilibrium would be estimated," Tronchetti Provera told a press conference.
He added that Pirelli gained positive results from investments to Russia, created successful joint ventures and was satisfied with industrial activity in the country.
"All companies - French, German and American - maintain market relations, including with Russia. That's why there's no such a risk," Tronchetti Provera replied to the question whether such activities as video link with Putin could damage Pirelli's business in Italy and Europe.
On January 26, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned that the meeting was routine and unrelated to sanctions or the situation in Ukraine. The last time the Russian president met with Italy's business community was in Moscow in 2018.
