The Conoscere Eurasia Association and the Roscongress Foundation, the two organizers of the event, announced their intention to hold the first major international event in presence instead of the video format, with the observance of all sanitary measures and with over 500 participants, in late September.
However, since early October the epidemiological situation in Italy has been rapidly deteriorating. On Wednesday, Italy registered a new record number of daily increases in COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic — 15,199.
On 18 October, the Italian government issued a decree further tightening anti-coronavirus measures, including the suspension of all congresses and conferences except those that take place remotely. Soon after the adoption of the decree, Mayor of Verona Federico Sboarina said talks were going on with the ministries and other government officials to see if the forum could still take place.
Although there has been no announcement on the cancellation of the event, according to the updated program, most of the speakers are going to participate online.
The forum traditionally brings together businessmen and government officials from Russia and other Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries, as well as Italy. It focuses on economic and geopolitical issues.
Among the high-level participants from the Russian side this year, there are Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov, Rosneft President Igor Sechin, Novatek Chairman Leonid Mikhelson , Gazprom Export General Director Elena Burmistrova, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aleksandr Pankin, Envoy to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov, Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko and head of the national public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova.
On the Italian side, high-level participants include Minister for Economic Development Stefano Patuanelli, former prime minister of Italy Romano Prodi, Vice-President of Confindustria Barbara Beltrame, President of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Vito Petrocelli, President of Liguria Region Giovanni Toti and President of Apulia Region Michele Emiliano.
The forum will run under the theme, "A new reality for the global economy – from the Atlantic to the Pacific," and will hold a special session on the future of the oil industry, which will involve Russia's Sechin, as well as regular sessions on the economic recovery after the pandemic, the role of genetics and genome research, overcoming social inequality, ways to re-energize dialogue between Russia and Europe and rethinking global healthcare systems.
Although anyone arriving from Russia to Italy is required to observe a 14-day quarantine, the officials and businessmen who come to participate in person will be exempt from the requirement.