Italy says Russia-linked companies should be banned from Ukraine’s rebuild
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at a July 10 press conference in Rome.
PHOTO: AFP
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- Italy wants to exclude firms that aided Russia's war in Ukraine from profiting from Ukraine's reconstruction, according to PM Meloni.
- Italy aims to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions while supporting Ukraine, confirmed by Meloni and Zelensky.
- Italy's Economy Minister discussed banning companies with Russian links with his Ukrainian counterpart, while major Italian banks operate in Russia.
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ROME – Italy said on July 10 that firms that have helped Russia fund its war on Ukraine by doing business with the country should be excluded from profiting from Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said earlier that participants at a Rome conference on the economic recovery of Ukraine had pledged more than €10 billion (S$15 billion)
“We want to work with Ukraine to ensure that entities which have contributed to financing the Russian war machine do not benefit from the reconstruction,” Ms Meloni said, during a speech at the conference.
“The path for us is clear: to continue to support Ukraine and on the other hand, to maintain or to indeed increase the pressure on Russia, above all through sanctions,” Ms Meloni later told reporters speaking alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The European Union has approved a raft of sanctions against Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The sanctions have targeted Russia’s energy revenues, banks and military industry, and frozen hundreds of billions of its central bank’s reserves.
An Italian Treasury statement said Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti had discussed the issue of banning companies with links to Russia during a bilateral meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Serhiy Marchenko.
Italy’s two largest banks, Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit, still operate in Russia, though both have cut their exposure in the country.
Ms Meloni’s administration gave UniCredit nine months to cease its activities in Russia as a condition for its proposed takeover bid for smaller rival Banco BPM. REUTERS
