Current Tendencies of Russian-Italian Relations Development in Energy Sphere

This research paper examines contemporary relations between Russia and Italy in the energy sector. Today in the energy policy of the European Union there are wide processes of liberalization of energy markets in order to ensure energy security of countries, efficiency and saving of energy use, and development of alternative energy sources. For several decades Russia has been Italy's main strategic partner in the field of energy. An extremely important factor of energy cooperation is the complementarity and interdependence of the economies of the two countries, which allows us to count on further long-term contracts. This work is an attempt to determine the degree of interdependence of partners, and prospects for development of cooperation, in the face of political contradictions. The theoretical part of the work shows the role of the energy sector in the world economy and possible scenarios for its development. Then a review of energy consumption in Italy, and Russian-Italian energy cooperation is conducted. The scale and possibilities of Russia's energy exports and its position on the Italian energy market are analyzed. The practical part of the work contains an analysis of the main trends in the development of Russian-Italian relations in the energy sector under the influence of EU economic sanctions against Russia. It shows the evolution of EU legislation in this area and, based on the analysis, makes a forecast about the impact of Italy's new energy policy on Russia in the new international political environment.