Business is interested in: Italian companies are looking for ways to return to the Russian market
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- Business is interested in: Italian companies are looking for ways to return to the Russian market
Italian businesses have not been able to find an alternative to the Russian market — now a number of organizations are trying to return, but they are hampered by EU sanctions. Companies are interested in expanding their presence in Russia, Vittorio Torrembini, president of the Association of Italian Entrepreneurs GIM Unimpresa, told Izvestia. At the same time, according to him, Italian companies still cannot withdraw more than €1 billion in profits from Russia, which can be regarded as direct losses from European sanctions. The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) emphasizes that small and medium-sized businesses are particularly interested in returning to the Russian Federation. The expert community believes that the Italians have not been able to fully compensate for the loss of the Russian market.
Problems of Italian business in Russia
Italy faces a serious risk of stagnation. According to the latest forecasts of the European Commission, the country's economy will grow by 0.4% in 2025, although in the spring it was expected that growth would be 0.7%. At the same time, the dynamics of foreign trade, which has always been the driving force of the economy, has also slowed down.
Although Italy's main trading partners are considered to be European countries, Russia, with its large market and cheap energy resources, also played an important role. In addition, 450-500 Italian companies have been operating in Russia for decades. Although most of them remained in Russia after the introduction of large-scale EU sanctions, some still left. Currently, there are about 280 companies operating in Russia, of which about 100 have their own production facilities.
Italian firms that left Russia after 2022 are interested in returning, Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), told Izvestia. Small and medium-sized businesses are particularly interested.
— They are a little far from politics, but they don't have enough markets. And the Russian market has always been quite attractive and capacious for them," he told Izvestia.
The head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs noted that the Germans, unlike the Italians, decided to rely on military-industrial development.
— In my opinion, their brains have now shifted in this direction. This is their main way to revive industrial growth now. On the one hand, China has squeezed them with the automotive industry. On the other hand, expensive electricity and so on. And here such a niche has been vacated," he said.
Shokhin is in constant contact with his European colleagues. The dialogue is carried out, in particular, through the International Council for Cooperation and Investment under the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
An Italian business operating in Russia is also discussing its problems with the government of its country. In early December, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani held the fifth meeting of the working group on the business situation in Russia. The meeting was attended by associations representing the Italian business community in Russia - GIM Unimpresa, Confindustria Russia and the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce.
Vittorio Torrembini, President of the Association of Italian Entrepreneurs GIM Unimpresa, told Izvestia that businesses from his country are interested in expanding their presence in the Russian market.
— There is a request, but they just can't — it's very difficult. A lot of restrictions, sanctions, and so on," he told Izvestia.
According to him, Italian companies are still unable to send back to Italy profits worth more than €1 billion. This was a result of the EU's anti—Russian sanctions and the countermeasures imposed by the Russian Federation: "They have made investments, they are making a profit, but they cannot repay the interest - these are losses."
— It is estimated that Italian business holds about €13 billion in investments in the Russian economy, which cannot be simply withdrawn due to restrictions on "unfriendly" countries. The Russian authorities require special permission from the government commission for any large transfer of funds abroad. Companies either reinvest profits on the spot, or agree to complex schemes with significant losses," Fyodor Sidorov, a private investor and founder of the School of Practical Investment, said in a conversation with Izvestia.
Russia was forced to take such steps after massive sanctions and the freezing of its assets in Europe.
The Italian business has not been able to completely rebuild itself
The analyst emphasizes that after 2022, the Italian business has still not been able to compensate for the loss of the Russian market. Italy's direct exports to Russia decreased by about $4 billion from 2019 to 2023, while imports fell by 80-85%, mainly due to energy.
— It was especially difficult for oil and gas engineering giants like Maire Tecnimont and Saipem, which had contracts worth billions of euros. Maire, for example, suspended projects worth €1.1 billion, and now Russian courts are demanding 202 billion rubles from the company, an unprecedented amount even by European standards," said Fyodor Sidorov.
It is worth noting that the current Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, came to power with a promise to strengthen the national industry and achieve food sovereignty. Meloni stated the need to develop a "Made in Italy" strategy and promote Italian products on world markets. However, this could not be implemented. Over the past three years, Italy's exports have increased by only 1.5%: if in the third quarter of 2022 it amounted to €147.9 billion, then in the second quarter of 2025 it amounted to €149 billion.
Working in the Russian market could help the Italian economy when the country is teetering on the brink of stagnation, Fyodor Sidorov believes.
— Before the SVR, Russia was an important partner for the Italian engineering industry, equipment for the oil and gas industry, and plumbing. But a refund is practically impossible due to the sanctions. Moreover, new packages of restrictions continue to hit Italian businesses: only the 19th list of sanctions will bring losses of €250 million to the country. Italian companies had to look for new markets in Central Asia, the Caucasus and Turkey — exports there increased by $7 billion over the same period, partially offsetting the Russian direction, he noted.
However, there is another opinion: since Russia's share in Italy's exports is currently minimal, the normalization of economic relations between the countries does not guarantee an improvement in Italy's performance.
"Of course, there were companies for which the Russian market was considered the main one, and for them this return would really be a breath of fresh air, but these are rather small companies whose activities will not significantly affect the macroeconomics of the country as a whole," financial adviser and founder Rodin told Izvestia.Capital Alexey Rodin.
Meanwhile, the difficulties for Italian business as a whole are not beneficial to Russia, for which Italy has always been considered an important trading partner. By the way, since 2022, the countries' mutual trade has decreased by about five times, from about $30 billion to $7-8 billion. This year, the trade turnover may even amount to a modest $5 billion.
According to Russian Ambassador to the country Alexei Paramonov, Moscow did not expect Italy to so hastily and "absolutely self-destructively" abandon the status of Russia's privileged economic partner. This was evidenced, for example, by the very comfortable conditions in which Italian banks, manufacturing companies, and small and medium-sized businesses operated in our market. Russian entrepreneurs, in turn, have also implemented many significant investment and cultural projects in Italy, the diplomat stressed.
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