Ladies and Gentlemen,

We all know about the awful tragedy that has happened in Italy. I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and express my solidarity with the Italian people. . This has been an enormous tragedy. We respect and understand the decision of our friend, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, to stay in his country at this difficult time.

I think that today's meeting and the forum are very important events in the business lives of our countries. This meeting is unique in many ways, speaking both of its importance and scale. Representatives of almost all Russian and Italian industries, leaders of the largest companies, and people who help to develop our cooperation are attending this gathering.

Italy, its leadership and its business leaders have often been the first movers in developing relations with Russia, while Russia has always been interested in developing relations with Italy, in the country's market, technology and expertise.

In 2008, our bilateral trade turnover reached $53 billion, which is 50% more than in 2007. Italy ranks fourth among our trade partners.

I am very pleased to note that despite the difficult global economic situation, Russian and Italian business leaders are confident and optimistic about our future, and they do not plan to abandon investment projects.

Now more than ever, we need non-trivial approaches, non-standard decisions. We should discover new collaboration opportunities, develop investments, and enhance industrial and technological cooperation.

Improving the business climate and attracting direct investments is a primary objective of the Russian Government, as we consider the modernisation of the national economy a vital issue. We intend to carry out policy directed towards encouraging and attracting foreign investors.

Addressing the State Duma yesterday, I introduced the Russian Government's anti-crisis programme. Its principles correspond to our plans for long-term development and react to the current economic situation in the world. We plan to shape infrastructural, financial and institutional bases to enhance the growth of the national economy. I know the Italian Government has been implementing a wide-scale anti-crisis programme directed at protecting the country's economy from hazardous changes in the global environment.

I am confident that our partnership and mutual openness could improve the stability and competitiveness of our economies, boost demand and business activity, and create jobs. In this context, I would like to praise the development of our bilateral trade and economic cooperation and the dialogue between our business leaders.

We welcome the investments by the Italian corporations Eni and Enel into the Russian oil and fuel complex. Eni is Gazprom's partner in the South Stream project. Through this cooperation, we strengthen the energy security not only in Russia and Italy, but also in the whole of Europe.

I would like to stress that Russian-Italian investment cooperation has become mutual in its framework. For example, LUKoil acquired shares in an ERG oil refinery in Sicilia. Renova and its Italian partners have been financing long-term projects, including those connected with renewable energy sources. There are many examples of mutually productive cooperation between our countries.

In general, high-tech industries such as space exploration, aircraft building, telecommunications and other industries have acquired great importance in our relations. The most successful and famous example is the creation of the Superjet 100 airliner. We expect that the aircraft will be certified later this year.

I believe that we also should pay attention to the development of bilateral cooperation in the sphere of small and medium-sized businesses. We are interested in Italy's experience in creating industrial districts. We also invite Italian small enterprises to work in Russian special economic zones, which are oriented towards high-tech production. The number of regions involved in Russian-Italian partnership has been growing at a fast rate.

Within the next few days, many of you will visit St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnodar and Yekaterinburg, and attend many meetings and talks, which I hope will see real, practical results.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This forum is very impressive, and I would like to underline that in the current situation, our meeting can serve as an example of a positive, constructive outlook, and aspiration to work creatively.

The centuries-old tradition of bilateral relations, the historical and spiritual affinity between our people, and the fruitful economic cooperation are the aspects that define Russian-Italian partnership, and hence allow us to expect success in our joint projects and undertakings. I am confident our expectations will be met.
I sincerely wish you every success.

Thank you for your attention. Grazie.