“The result at the moment is very very bad, because our export is down by some 30 percent in agriculture. And we have the troubles in the tourism industry, with the value of the ruble weakening, which is the result of the economic and financial war that is being waged, so the Russian tourism to Italy is much lower,” Fabrizio Bertot said.
He stressed that Italy understood that damage would be caused by anti-Russia sanctions, but had to participate to maintain ties with the European Union.
“But the problem is in the future. So when the sanctions are over, Russia will have its own substitute for our products, so they will not import our mozzarella,” Bertot said.
Russia responded with banning food imports from the countries that sanctioned it. The embargo was prolonged earlier this year.
In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi discussed the sanctions against Russia. According to the Russian president, Italy, traditionally close to Russia in various fields, lost over $1 billion due to the restrictive measures
Last week, Russia adopted a decree authorizing the destruction of food imports illegally brought into the country.
