The Italian prime minister an-nounced that Italy will
soon become Russia’s top trading partner. At a recent intergovernmental summit,
Russian president Dimitri Medvedev and Silvio Berlusconi made a number of deals
aimed at strengthening Italian-Russian trade.
Trade between the two countries was up 60 percent this
year and could end 2008 ‘at an unprecedented level’ said Medvedev. The two
countries signed 13 accords and statements of intent regarding joint business
ventures and intergovernmental agreements during Berlusconi’s visit to the
Kremlin.
Among the strategic business accords is a
300-million-euro deal between Italian tire giant Pirelli and the state corporation
Russian Technologies to build a tire plant in Russia by the end of 2010. The
new factory will have an expected output of some 4.2 million tires a year. Fiat
agreed to launch and manufacture a new Fiat model with the Russian car producer
Sollers.
Meanwhile, Italian energy giant ENEL renewed its
agreement to supply energy to Russian railway company RZHD for 15 years, a deal
worth an estimated one billion euro. ENEL also signed a second statement of
intent with Russian electricity trading company Inter RAO UES for cooperation
in the energy sector both in Russia and elsewhere.
Ministers from both countries signed agreements on the
joint construction of nuclear reactors in Italy, adoption, drugs trafficking
and cultural cooperation.
