The Sverdlovsk Oblast To Expand Co-operation With Italy

08.04.2009 — News

THE SVERDLOVSK OBLAST.

The Government of the Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Italian Ministry of Economy will establish a joint Working Group that will supervise economic projects. Among the possible projects - the production of lorries at the ZAO Avtomobili I Motori Urala (Cars and Motors of the Urals) with the participation of FIAT and IVECO, the production of non-military optics, as well as the production of night vision equipment for navigation, search-and-rescue and patrol operations at the FGUP PO Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant jointly with SELEX GALILEO, an Italian company.

As a part of the Urals stage of the Italian-Russian Economic Forum that has been held in Ekaterinburg on 8 April 2009 it was announced that the Sverdlovsk Oblast would expand its co-operation with Italy in the hi-tech sphere. In addition to that, it is planned to open a Consulate General of Italy in Ekaterinburg.

In 2008, the trade volume between Italy and the Sverdlovsk Oblast has exceeded 745 million US dollars. The Urals businesses are rather active in purchasing Italian equipment: Danieli arc furnaces for the steel production, equipment for the ceramic tiles production, gas equipment by SIFA. ОАО Uralchimplast and Cavenaghi are jointly producing goods for the foundry industry. Buzzi Unicem has purchased a share in the ОАО Suholozhsktsement, the main producer of cement and construction mixes. Enel, an Italian energy concern, jointly with the JSC OGK-5 (Generating Company №5), are implementing a project to construct a combined cycle gas turbine unit with the capacity of 410 megawatts at the Sredneuralskaya SDPP (State District Power Plant); this investment will amount to a total of nearly 350 million Euro. This new power generating unit stands out for its high efficiency (58%) and environmental safety.