ELISTA, October 13. /TASS/. Italy lost €11.7 bln and 200,000 jobs throughout the period of sanctions against Russia and retaliating Russian embargo, President of Italian-Russian Commerce Chamber Rosario Alessandrello told TASS on Thursday.

"Sanctions as such are the market distortion. This mechanism of sanctions and countersanctions should be temporary; otherwise it will affect the global market. The Italian turnover lost €11.7 bln and 200,000 jobs in Italy throughout the period of sanctions, Alessandrello said.

The Italian agriculture suffered most, he said. All high quality fresh products supplied by Italy vanished on the Russian market, the expert said.

Meanwhile the Italian businessmen are not ready to lose the Russian market and are looking for new opportunities to cooperate bypassing sanctions. More than 150 Italian companies are currently looking for Russian partners to create joint ventures, Alessandrello said. Such areas as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, agribusiness, textile, and specialized equipment enjoy the highest demand, he added.

Italian investments into the Russian economy slightly grow in the first half of this year, the expert said. "Small growth of about 1.5% year-on-year is registered in the first half of this year. The trend is positive because indicators were negative before. Italian export to Russia is valued at 6-7 bln euro in 2015," Alessandrello said.