Italy is going to increase by 50 percent the volume of investments in the Russian economy, Italian deputy industry minister Dr. Adolfo Urso said on Wednesday presenting in Moscow the program 2005

Italy is going to increase by 50 percent the volume of investments in the Russian economy, Italian deputy industry minister Dr. Adolfo Urso said on Wednesday presenting in Moscow the program 2005, Year of Italy in Russia. "In 2004 the volume of Italian export to Russia increased by 29 percent and this year we would like it to go up by 50 percent", Mr. Urso said. He also noted Italy's interest in increasing the volume of mutual investments. "Now Italy ranks tenth among the investors in the economy of Russia. I think, this indicator can further improve", he said. In his opinion, the current state of affairs is explained by many Italian investments in the Russian economy arriving through third countries, such as The Netherlands and Belgium. The present figures of Russian-Italian trade and economic relations do not exhaust our countries' potential of such cooperation, he believes. The reinvigoration of cooperation in this sphere will be largely promoted by realization of the program 2005, Year of Italy in Russia, he said.