During the meeting, held via a video conference, the president reported that unemployment in Russia remains at an all-time low of 4.3 percent, according to the Kremlin’s official website.

He said that maintaining macroeconomic stability is a priority for Russian authorities and it is the key factor to attract foreign investment into Russia.

According to Putin, the global economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has not hit the country as hard as other States. He added that this was mainly possible due to the structural reliability of Russia’s economy.

He noted that the Government is implementing different support mechanisms for national and foreign companies based in the country. He explained that foreign companies receive additional benefits, can benefit from tax preferences in special economic zones and operate on the basis of special investment contracts.

The president said that a preferential procedure to grant residence permits to foreign investors will take effect by mid 2022.

The head of State stressed that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia and Italy have maintained economic cooperation, but due to the volatility of the global economy, new joint projects could not be implemented.

Putin recalled that bilateral trade between grew 53.8 percent in the first 11 months of 2021; that is, up to 27.5 billion dollars.

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