a diplomatic case the meeting this morning at 11 in videoconference between the main Italian companies present in Russia, from Pirelli to Unicredit, from Enel to Banca Intesa, from Eni to Generali, and the president Vladimir Putin. A business meeting, to develop economic relations, but which comes in the midst of the most serious diplomatic-military crisis of recent years on the borders of Europe.
The news was relaunched with the list of participants last night from Financial Times, after it had been announced by an official Kremlin press note earlier in the day. Evidence that creates embarrassment, for the timing rather than for the event itself, which has already been held several times. So in the evening the first defections arrived: Eni will not participate in the meeting, specified the spokesperson of the group, through the managing director Claudio Descalzi n other members of the company. The Farnesina was informed of this summit but – the clarification that is gathered – it is a private initiative at an entrepreneurial level, in which the ambassador does not participate.
The event on the agenda today, as revealed by the British newspaper, should participate among others Francesco Starace, CEO of Enel, Andrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit, Antonio Fallico, president of Intesa Sanpaolo Russia, while Generali will not have the CEO Philippe Donnet but the president Gabriele Galateri. Even Eni was mentioned among those present by the British newspaper, before last night’s retreat. The participation of Marco Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli’s number one, has not been confirmed. Just a few days ago, Unicredit seemed interested in taking over Otkritie Bank, the seventh Russian institution, from the State: a dossier then set aside also due to the escalation of geopolitical tensions. The summit will also be attended by important Russian managers such as Igor Sechin, number one of the oil giant Rosneft, very close to Putin, and Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
The meeting was organized there Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce chaired by Vincenzo Trani. The possibility of strengthening cooperation in the sectors of energy, industry, finance and environmental technologies will be discussed, the Kremlin said. Putin expects big business to undermine the West’s policy towards Russia, Carnegie Moscow Center analyst Akexander Gabuev reading, quoted by the Ft. The fears are for energy. When soldiers move and we talk about tanks, you must always be available to avoid trouble. Selfishly I add that if someone closes the gas taps, unlike other European countries, Italy will be in the dark and cold from tomorrow, commented the leader of the League, Matteo Salvini.