Italy wants to
invest in Russia, and vice versa. In early April, 900 Italian entrepreneurs
flew to Moscow hoping to strike a deal, the largest foreign business mission
yet organized by the Italian government.
Vice president of
the Italy’s Confindustria, Paolo Zegna, believes that in order to survive the
troubling economic crisis, the country’s business leaders must look ‘above and
beyond it’.
President of the
Confindustria, Emma Marcegalia, led the three-day tour from Moscow to Saint
Petersburg, Ekaterinburg and Novosibirsk, and back to Moscow for the business
forum. (Italian premier Silvio Berlusioni, scheduled to participate, cancelled
when the massive earthquake struck the Abruzzo region on April 7.)
A
number of important deals were made, including mergers and acquisitions in the
oil and gas and technology sectors. The largest deal was secured by the Italian
energy company Eni, which sold a 20 percent stake in the Russian oil giant
Gazprom Neft. Worth $4.1 billion, the stocks were bought by the Russian-owned
firm Gazprom.
