On January 26, 2022, the videoconference meeting between Vladimir Putin and leading Italian entrepreneurs took place. During the meeting, the President of the Russian Federation pointed out that, despite the coronavirus pandemic and the volatile situation in the world economy, bilateral trade grew by 53.8% to $27.5 billion in the 11 months of last year.

The president continued by highlighting that Russia considers Italy to be one of its main economic partners and that it ranks third among European Union countries in terms of the level of trade. The latter in Russia amount to about 5 billion dollars, while Russian investments in Italy are estimated at about 3 billion dollars.

Currently in the territory of the Russian Federation there are about 500 Italian companiesб operating in a wide range of sectors from electricity to high technology, from the agricultural production complex to the banking and insurance sector and many others.

At the end, Putin stressed that foreign companies that localized their production facilities in Russia receive additional benefits and can take advantage of tax preferences in special economic zones, working under special investment contracts. In addition to this, a preferential and simplified treatment for issuing residence permits to foreign investors will come into force in middle of this year.