Russian Vice-Premier Alexey Kudrin will visit Switzerland and Italy

Russian Vice-Premier, Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin will travel to Switzerland and Italy on a working visit.

According to Vice-Premier's press secretary Gennadi Yezhov, Alexey Kudrin is departing to Switzerland on Monday to attend the opening of the scheduled round of talks on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Kudrin will speak in Geneva during the meeting of the working group on Russia's accession to the WTO. This will be a key meeting for Russia, emphasized Yezhov, mentioning that Russia had set this issue as a priority for the near future.

On Monday night, the Russian Vice-Premier will arrive in Rome where he will participate in a meeting of the Russian-Italian Council on economic, industrial and financial cooperation on Tuesday. During the meeting, the sides will discuss a wide range of issues related to the development of the bilateral economic partnership. Upon the end of the talks, the sides are expected to sign several documents. In addition, Alexey Kudrin will meet in Rome with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. In the context of a short cultural program, the Russian Vice-Premier will attend the unveiling ceremony of the monument to Russian writer Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852).