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Economic Cooperation between Italy and the Russian Federation: History, Success Stories and Challenges
Abstract and Figures
The paper explores the foundations of Russian-Italian economic cooperation, beginning in the Cold War period. The analysis then focuses on recent years, with an overview of bilateral trade, the challenges posed by the current political crisis and the opportunities offered by the digital economy, where Italian-Russian cooperation is currently underdeveloped. Subsequently, the most economically significant sectoral case studies of Italy-Russia cooperation are investigated, including energy, cars and aeronautics, machinery production and the traditional ‘Made in Italy’ (food, fashion and furniture). Finally, conclusions and recommendations are provided.
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The 1966 agreement set in place a range of cooperation programmes which came to fruition long after the visit of President Pompidou. The first was a very concrete outcome: the launch of the French satellites SRET, Signe 3 and Aureole by the Soviet Union. Although France had the capacity to launch its own small satellites, the USSR provided the opportunity to launch heavier satellites into higher orbits and these missions led to extensive cooperation in the Prognoz and Interball programmes. Strains and stresses were most evident during the Venus balloon project. Space science saw the extension of cooperation beyond France and to the European Space Agency (ESA) in the areas of biology (Bion) and materials processing (Foton). Germany emerged as a significant player, concluding with the Spektr RG project.
Italy is the second largest market for Russian gas in the EU, and Italy-Russia energy relations stretch back to the Cold War period. By developing an original framework for the study of the politics of producer-consumer cooperation based on an international political economy approach and the analytical concept of forms of state, this article examines the origins, evolution and current features of Italy-Russia dyadic energy relations. This analysis, in turn, offers an important contribution to the study of EU-Russia relations and sheds light on the reconfiguration of East-West gas interdependence within the context of the integration and liberalisation of the EU energy sector. You can download this article here: https
After the Cold War, Italy developed an economic and political partnership with Russia. The confrontation between Russia and the West following the Ukraine crisis initially appeared to have undermined this partnership. Instead, despite reciprocal sanctions and tensions, Italian-Russian cooperation has proved resilient. Security and humanitarian crises in Italy’s Southern neighbourhood and Russia’s renewed activism there have recently led Italian policymakers to intensify dialogue with Moscow. The quest for dialogue with Russia corresponds to the long-standing conceptualisation of Italy as a ‘middle power’, which can achieve its foreign policy goals most effectively through cooperation with the great powers.
This article analyzes the landmark deal between the Italian automobile corporation Fiat and the Soviet government to build and operate the Volga Automobile Factory (VAZ). Drawing on formerly closed corporate records and declassified Soviet documents, the article traces how the Cold War helped shape the strategy of a West European multinational corporation in its attempts to manipulate the national and international political context in which it was acting. In Fiat's strategy toward the uncertain Soviet market, car production represented more of a bridgehead than an ultimate objective. Fiat's Ostpolitik was carefully planned and coordinated with the U.S. government and with other large Italian businesses. Italian-Soviet cooperation in building VAZ, the symbol of material well-being and peaceful industrial reconstruction, facilitated the requests of Soviet officials and Western corporations to lift East-West trade restrictions on non-strategic goods, thus conferring political legitimacy on trade with the Soviet Union.
Further Reading Alcaro, Riccardo, Germany's Ostpolitik. An Italian perspective
- Yulia Sinchuk
Yulia Sinchuk, 'The furore of Italian fashion in Russia', in G. Motta and A. Biagini (eds.), Fashion through History:
Costumes, Symbols, Communication. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017, 221.
Further Reading
Alcaro, Riccardo, Germany's Ostpolitik. An Italian perspective, IAI Working Paper no. 17/22.
Rome: IAI, April 2017. http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/germanys-ostpolitik-italianperspective
Italy: Russia's voice in Europe? Paris: Institut Français des Relations Internationales
- Nadezhda Arbatova
Arbatova, Nadezhda, Italy: Russia's voice in Europe? Paris: Institut Français des Relations
Internationales, 2011.
- De Maio
- Nicolò Sartori
- Le Relazioni Tra Italia E Russia
- Osservatorio Di
De Maio, Giovanna and Nicolò Sartori, Le Relazioni tra Italia e Russia, Osservatorio di Politica
Internazionale,
Approfondimento
144,
November
2018.
Italy-Russia relations: energy, politics and other business', in Z. Ludvig, East European Studies 4. Eurasian Challenges: Partnerships with Russia and other issues of the post-Soviet area
- Marco Siddi
Siddi, Marco, 'Italy-Russia relations: energy, politics and other business', in Z. Ludvig, East
European Studies 4. Eurasian Challenges: Partnerships with Russia and other issues of the
post-Soviet area. Budapest: Institute of World Economics of the Hungarian Academy of
Sciences, 2012.
- Marco Siddi
- Italy
Siddi, Marco, 'Italy', in EU member states and Russia: national and European debates in an
evolving international environment, FIIA Report 53. Helsinki: Finnish Institute of International
Affairs, 2018.
The furore of Italian fashion in Russia
- Yulia Sinchuk
Yulia Sinchuk, 'The furore of Italian fashion in Russia', in G. Motta and A. Biagini (eds.), Fashion through History:
Costumes, Symbols, Communication. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017, 221.
Italy in Russia' goods, so as to face the competition of new (domestic and foreign) producers
that are adapting to the changed context.
Russia and Italy: Doing Business Together
- Esteri Info Mercati
- Russia
Info Mercati Esteri Russia, 2017, p. 6.
101 'Russia and Italy: Doing Business Together', Deloitte CIS Research Centre, 2017, p. 9.