SIMFEROPOL, October 13. /TASS/. The delegation of 18 Italian officials and businessmen will arrive in Crimea on Thursday to discuss issues of cooperation and prospects for cancellation of Western sanctions with regional authorities and business circles, the Yalta International Economic Forum fund, which co-organized the visit, told TASS.

"During the visit (of the Italian delegation), it is planned to discuss prospects for cancelling anti-Russian sanctions, international recognition of Crimea as part of Russia, joint business initiatives and business partnership in different spheres," the fund quoted Crimean head Sergey Aksyonov as saying.

On October 13, the Italian delegation will not take part in any events. However, an intensive program awaits them on Friday and Saturday. They will meet with Crimea’s head Sergey Aksyonov, acting Sevastopol Governor Dmitry Ovsyannikov, speaker of Crimean State Council Vladimir Konstantinov, the local authorities told TASS. The Italian delegation will also visit the famous winery Massandra and discuss with local winemakers the possibility of launching joint Russian-Italian wine production.

The delegation plans to sign an inter-governmental agreement at the meeting with the speaker of Crimean State Council, and a memorandum on sister cities Simferopol and Padua at the meeting with the region’s authorities.

"We will have two very busy days, visit Simferopol, Yalta and Sevastopol," the fund quoted one of the delegates, member of parliament of Veneto Stefano Valdegamberi, as saying. "Our visit is a kind of a political gesture against sanctions policy. By doing this, we want to confirm what has already been said by our district council when we adopted resolutions against anti-Russian sanctions and for recognizing the right of Crimean people for self-determination," he added.