ROME, October 4. /TASS/. Italy’s Veneto region is set to protest the European sanctions introduced against Russia so that to maintain interests of Italian companies, Veneto’s President Luca Zaia said on Saturday.

“Veneto will take necessary steps to protest the commercial embargo imposed on Russia over events in Ukraine,” Zaia said. “In Veneto 160,000 agricultural firms operate with a total turnover of six billion euro per year. We are ranking second among Italy’s regions on agricultural production and deserve the right for a prospective market like that one in Russia.”

In response to the European Union sanctions, Russia introduced a ban on Western imports of agricultural goods.

Zaia said that the region’s government would determine the concrete steps in a span of a few days.

“Sanctions that Europe has forced upon Italy are harming a whole sector of the economy and so we would like to step out of this circle,” Zaia said.