This is the first visit of the President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian
Parliament to Russia over the past 12 years. “A lot of questions have accumulated
that we would like to discuss,” said Viacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
, opening the meeting.
He reminded that today Roberto Fico will address the State Duma members at the plenary session. The President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy said that “I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the Russian parliamentarians and consider it a great honor.” In addition, a meeting of the High Russian-Italian
Inter-Parliamentary Commission will take place today. The President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy noted that during the meeting topics that he
thinks are “extremely important” will be discussed.
“Issues of humanitarian cooperation and cultural exchanges are one of the priorities of our mutual decisions,” the Chairman of the State Duma stressed.
He noted that it is not the first day of Roberto Fico in Russia: “It’s good that you had the opportunity to get acquainted with Moscow and its sights. This will help to better understand some issues that we will discuss today.“
Viacheslav Volodin stressed that issues of inter-parliamentary cooperation should be discussed since ”within the parliamentary dimension a lot can be done to develop relations between our countries and understanding between our peoples.“ He noted that ”the lack of systematic work in this direction leads to the fact that we are not working on issues related to the development of relations at the inter-parliamentary level, and therefore lose the opportunities that our countries have.“ Viacheslav Volodin said that the arrival of Roberto Fico will give impetus to the development of relations in this direction, ”and the dialogue will allow nations to better understand each other.“
Viacheslav Volodin also pointed out topics that ”are a stumbling block“ in the development of relations between the two countries — this is the topic of anti-Russia sanctions, the situation around PACE, and the topic of harmonization of legislation. In particular, within the framework of the inter-parliamentary commission it is possible to discuss “topics related to legislative support of the development of the digital economy,” said the Chairman of the State Duma.
“We are ready to exchange views on these issues,” he stressed.
Moreover, issues related to humanitarian and cultural projects, as well as projects in the field of education need to be discussed.
Work at the inter-parliamentary level is far from being perfect
Viacheslav Volodin noted that President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte are doing a lot to develop relations between countries but work at the inter-parliamentary level ”is still far from being perfect.“
At the same time, Viacheslav Volodin noted an increase in commodity turnover between the countries by 12.7% over the past year, ”but this is clearly not a ceiling, and we can strive for more.“ The exchange of students and tourist flow are also growing. The Chairman of the State Duma added that relations between Russia and Italy remain good.
“Europe unites a large number of countries, but Russia has always had special relations with Italy, and our task is to do everything to develop these relations so that we preserve what our predecessors gave us,” he said.
Viacheslav Volodin also said that “last year, the Russian economy worked in plus, we came out of stagnation and we are planning that in 2021 the economy will grow by 3%, and after 2024 we should increase growth volumes more than the average European economic growth.”
“Our country is facing such tasks. I think that it would be right to achieve these tasks together because in this case the Italian economy will also benefit,” said Viacheslav Volodin.
The Chairman of the State Duma stressed that 500 Italian companies work in Russia, and the President of the Russian Federation and the Italian Prime Minister are doing a lot to develop cooperation in the business sphere. Viacheslav Volodin believes that it would be right to think about what can be done for the growth of commodity circulation and the development of business relations through the possibilities of inter-parliamentary cooperation.
