Creation of Industrial Zones for Italian Companies in St. Petersburg Area to Be Discussed at End of July

The end of this month will see the first meeting of a Russian-Italian working group which is to discuss the creation of industrial zones for Italian companies in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. This announcement was made on Thursday by Italian Deputy Minister for Industry and Foreign Trade Adolfo Urso.

There are also plans to set up similar zones in Lipetsk (where Italian company Merloni Elettrodomestici produces household electrical goods) and in the Ural Region of Siberia (where cooperation is planned in the defense and ferrous metal industries). In the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, the Leningrad Region and the Sochi Region, the manufacturing of Italian furniture and clothes is to be streamlined.

A meeting of the working group covering all zones, with the participation of Italian and Russian officials and entrepreneurs, is planned for September 2002. The group is headed by Russian Minister for Economic Development and Trade German Gref.