The Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce (IRCC) plans to create a system that will allow Russian companies to buy Italian goods that are not prohibited from being imported by sanctions, President of the IRCC Ferdinando Pelazzo told Sputnik.
"We want to create a system that will allow the Russian buyer to pay us in rubles, and we could then transfer this money to Italy from our [bank] account in a third country," Pelazzo said.
The chamber's president also noted that almost half of Italy's exports to Russia do not fall under sanctions.
"Fifty-one percent of exports from Italy to Russia are under sanctions. But there are also 49% of non-prohibited goods: wine, shoes, fashion items," he said.
Pelazzo said that there are Italian companies that want to stay on the Russian market, but even they will most likely leave if the situation does not change for the best.
"It seems to me that now even those who have not left [the Russian market] are thinking whether to stay or leave. Nobody thinks to come to Russia. There are certain sectors that do not require investment, for example, fashion, they may be interested in staying," he said.
The Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce is a private non-profit organization whose goal is to promote trade and economic cooperation between Italy and Russia by assisting entrepreneurs of the two countries.