The Ariston case – Il Tempo

A response to “hostile acts”. The Russian ambassador to Italy Alexey Paramonov thus justified the decree with which Vladimir Putin last April 26 ordered the nationalization of the Russian branch of Ariston Thermo Group with its passage under the control of the state-owned Gazprom Household Systems. A position that Paramonov expressed on the occasion of the summons to the Farnesina arranged by Minister Antonio Tajani. The Moscow diplomat was received by the secretary general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Riccardo Guariglia, who expressed the government’s “strong disappointment” at this measure, asking for clarification on its motivations which “have no basis in law, especially considering that it was adopted against a company that has historical roots in the country and which has no connection with the current international crisis situation”.

Paramonov explained that Moscow will proceed in this way against companies from states that have adopted sanctions against Russia following the war in Ukraine. The measure also affected a German company and there are over twenty-one companies for which similar measures have already been initiated by the Kremlin. Guariglia then expressed the hope that “Russia can reconsider” the measure also in light of its temporary nature, also recalling the European Union’s harsh stance on Moscow’s “failure to respect” international law, when he adopted the measure. Tajani “reserves the right to investigate the consequences of the Russian decision together with the G7 and EU partners and to evaluate an appropriate response”.

A warning that did not seem to affect Russian determination. Paramonov replied, according to the Russian embassy report, providing “exhaustive explanations” on the “legality and justification of the decisions taken”. Steps, he continued, “taken in response to hostile and contrary to international law acts of the United States and its affiliated foreign states aimed at unlawfully depriving Russia, its legal representatives and individuals of the right to property located in the territory of those countries” . It is the Italian authorities, Paramonov urged, who must feel responsible for the “negative consequences” resulting from the “destruction” of the “fruitful commercial and economic relations” that once existed between Moscow and Rome. On the matter, the Minister of Business and Made Italy, Adolfo Urso, telephoned the president of Ariston Group Paolo Merloni and the CEO Maurizio Brusadelli, to explain the actions undertaken by the government together with Brussels on the development of new tools, in within the scope of the community sanctioning framework, aimed at protecting Italian and European companies affected by similar “acts of retaliation”. An economic aggression, that of Russia, placed in the broader framework of the war in Ukraine, which has progressively led the West to cut all political and commercial ties with Moscow.

But for Kiev the crucial aspect in a conflict that sees it at a military disadvantage continues to be that of the supply of weapons. President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated this after meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Ukrainian capital. Regarding “timely support for our army”, Zelensky complained, “to date I still don’t see anything positive”. The supplies, he continued, “have started but this process must be accelerated”, also because Russia “is taking advantage of a situation in which we are waiting for supplies from our partners”, preparing “new offensive actions”.