Press Release

ANTONIO FALLICO (PRESIDENT OF BANCA INTESA RUSSIA AND PRESIDENT OF CONOSCERE EURASIA ASSOCIATION): TURNOVER BETWEEN REGION CAMPANIA AND RUSSIA INCREASE. EXPORT IN SLIGHT DECLINE.

Naples, 31 March 2015. “The region of Campania suffers the consequencies of the geopolitical crisis between the UE and Russia, even though less than the other regions of Italy. From the one side we see a decrease of export in Moscow at 3% (data of 2014 to 2013), from the other side the rise of turnover at 32 % (318 mln euro) that shows the continuity of commercial relations between Italy and Russia”. In that way the President of Banca Intesa and the Conoscere Eurasia Association Antonio Fallico opened the Italian-Russian Seminar of the commercial relations between Italy and Russia. The President of the Conoscere Eurasia Association, which organized this event in cooperation with St.Petersburg International Economic Forum and Banca Intesa Russia and Banca di Napoli: “Technology innovation, fashion and tourism represent the levers for a growth in export from Campania to Russia, that against all the odds still shows good promise: three percent lost in 2014 represent just a forced stop after many years of continuos growth, in 2013 we saw an increase of export to Russia at 7%. Besides that – the President of Banca Intesa Russia comments, – the technological export from the region Campania to Russia increased at 6,3% and also the amount of Russian tourists grew twice in the period from 2009 to 2013 with 400 mln entries in 2013. Nowadays the region of Campania is the second region of high demand for the Russian tour operators, while Naples is the fifth city of high demand for the Russian tourists that concedes only to Rome, Milan, Venice, Rimini and leaves back Florence. The most notable loss is in the sphere of fashion, – concludes Fallico,- there is a decline at 17% and the situation can change only with the ruble stabilization and the settlement of the geopolitical crisis, which has influenced the turnover last year and in the first months of the current year ”.

On the whole, the turnover between the region of Campania and Russia in the sphere of tourism amounts to 318 mln euro (+46,5% for the last two years) with a slight decline of export to Russia and a notable growth of import (+70%). The data has improved in comparison with the last year when the fall of ruble, the sanctions and the counter-measures have brought the loss of 5,3 bln euro of turnover (-17% from 2013) to Italy and Russia and the reduction of export from Italy to Russia at 11,6% (-1,25 bln euro) with a notable decrease of export in the sphere of textile and leather products and clothes (- 16,4%) and in the sphere of electrical and mechanical engineering, transport (-13,7%) and also the agro industrial sphere that was most subjected to sanctions(-38%).

Among the other Seminar attendants: Mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris; Ambassador of Russia in Italy Sergey Razov; Chairman of the Board of St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Foundation Sergey Belyakov; Commercial representative of the Russian Federation in Italy Igor Karavaev; President of Banca Napoli Maurizio Barracco; President of Confindustria in the region of Campania Sabino Basso; President of the Industrial Union of Naples Ambrogio Prezioso and President of Chamber of Commerce of Naples Maurizio Maddaloni; Director of National Tourism Agency of Italy in Moscow Domenico Di Salvo; Vice President of Sistema Moda Italia Paolo Bastianello.

Press Centre of Association Conoscere Eurasia: interCOM

Benny Lonardi ([email protected]; 334.6049450)

Marina Catenacci ([email protected]; 349.8212419)