MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. None of the nearly 500 Italian companies working in Russia stopped its activities under sanctions, according to the documents prepared for the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella.

"A total of about 500 Italian companies are working in the Russian market, represented in all major sectors of the economy. None of them has stopped its activities under the sectoral sanctions. Industrial cooperation and joint research and advanced development are evolving," the documents said. 

Among the significant projects are promotion Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet, JV HeliVert on assembling civil helicopters, modernization of the Kirov and Voronezh tire plants in cooperation with Pirelli, construction of fertilizer plants in Russia, Kazakhstan, the USA, etc.

In addition, Rosneft is working with the Italian ENI on the development of the Barents Sea and the Black Sea shelf.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said earlier at a meeting with the Italian President, that the trade turnover between Russia and Italy fell from $54 bln to $20 bln in three years. "Our trade turnover has decreased from $54 bln to $20 bln in the last three years, which, of course, is sad for the countries and for business," Medvedev said.

Medvedev talked about the reasons for the decline - decrease of prices for a number of goods, including energy products and the EU restrictive measures that do not contribute to the development of relations.

Mattarella noted "the relations between our countries are excellent, these are relations of friendship, strong relations, which were developed by many politicians." According to the Italian president, the existing connection successfully overcomes a rather difficult period. He noted the mutual interest for at finding most effective solutions to existing problems.

"Our economic relations are very active and they can be assessed as strategic, there is huge potential for growth, it is a high priority to us," Mattarella concluded.