MILAN, March 20. /TASS/. Russia’s authorities will offer all necessary administrative and organizational support to foreign investors in Crimea, Russian Deputy Minister for Crimean Affairs Elena Abramova said on Friday.
"Of course, sanctions do harm to our mutual economic project. Not even sanctions as such but a threat of them being imposed. But we think it is a temporary thing whereas our strategy aims a long-term perspective. So, our key efforts will be focused on helping businessmen reach our market with long-term strategies and good-quality investment projects," he said at a conference entitled "Russia and Crimea: Possibilities for Italian Businesses" in Milan.
She said the key task for the Russian authorities was to offer organizational and administrative assistance to all foreign investors who might need it. "It is typical of any successful investment region to be interested in investments on ground. We must help foreign investors," she said.
The conference organized by the Lombardy-Russia Association drew businessmen from other Italian regions as well.
Along with Abramova, the conference was attended by Crimea’s Minister of Economic Development Nikolay Koryazhkin and investment policy and international ties adviser at the Russian ministry for Crimean affairs Vadim Tretyakov. The conference was seen as tool to present Crimea’s economic potential to foreign investors. This is the first meeting at such level, although Crimean authorities already had numerous contacts with Italian businessmen in Crimea. Apart from that, according to Tretyakov, seminars on Crimea’s economic possibilities were held in other countries, including the Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland.