Further privatization in Russia to open up opportunities for Italian

ROME, June 25 (Itar-Tass) -- Italy and Russia intend to strengthen
bilateral economic cooperation in all areas. They declared this intention
in a joint statement signed on Friday by Deputy Prime Minister, Finance
Minister Alexei Kudrin and Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, who chaired
the twelfth session of the Russian-Italian council for economic,
industrial, financial and monetary cooperation in the Italian capital.
The two sides expressed mutual satisfaction with the work of the nine
working groups within the Council, which has been meeting on a regular
basis since 1996 under an agreement on a strategic partnership between
Russia and Italy.
Kudrin previewed the new privatization program, in which the Italian
side sees additional opportunities for investment. Answering questions
from Russian journalists, Kudrin explained that the conditions for all
investors would be the same and "no preferences will be given to anyone."
At the same time Kudrin did not specify exactly which companies might
enter "the second list" of privatization, being compiled by the government
after the decision "to privatize more boldly."
"It is less than a week since the instructions from the president (at
the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum), the list has not been
determined yet, the price has not been defined either, and it is difficult
to say what companies will be involved," Kudrin said, adding that the
Russian side was doing everything to ease the bureaucratic procedures for
foreign investors.
For his part, Frattini stressed the importance of developing
cooperation in the energy sector, which became especially important after
the Italians voted against nuclear power in the recent referendum. "The
results of the referendum, as well as instability in North Africa are
increasing the priority of energy cooperation," said Frattini. He
expressed confidence that the pipeline South Stream "is the most effective
response to new challenges in the energy sector."
Kudrin and Frattini emphasized the prospects for cooperation between
their countries in terms of innovation and new technologies that are
tailored to diversify the Russian economy. They also discussed the process
of liberalizing the visa regimen between Russia and Italy. The head of the
Italian Foreign Ministry said that by supporting the liberalization of
entry rules for Russian citizens Italy was taking "internal unilateral
steps" in this direction. In his view, this would help the further
development of the tourism industry, which showed significant growth of
late, as well as facilitate business. At the end of the meeting Kudrin and
Frattini exchanged coins issued by the central banks of both countries on
the occasion of the cross year of cultural ties.
The next, thirteenth session of the Council will be held in Russia in
2012.