Italy on Saturday summoned the Russian ambassador to the country after Moscow announced that Ariston Thermo Group, a subsidiary of the Italian company that produces heating equipment, will be placed under the "temporary management" of state energy giant Gazprom, reports AFP.
"The government seeks clarification on the question of the nationalization of the Ariston Thermo Group," Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced on April 27 on Ix, formerly Twitter.
He said he had asked a senior official in the Italian foreign ministry to invite Russian ambassador Alexei Paramonov for an interview.
"(We) are also working with Brussels, in cooperation with Germany," after Bosch was also targeted, Tajani said.
In another post, Tajani said he had spoken with Ariston's top managers, adding that Rome "stands by the companies and is ready to protect them in all international markets."
The nationalization of Ariston was announced in a Russian decree published on Friday and signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The decree transfers control over 100 percent of Ariston's Russian companies - Ariston Thermo Rus, owned by Ariston Holding NV and BSH Household Appliances, owned by BSH Hausgerate GmbH - to Gazprom Household Systems, a subsidiary of Gazprom.
Since invading Ukraine, Moscow has taken over the Russian subsidiaries of a number of Western companies - for example French yogurt maker Danone and Danish brewer Karlsberg - under what it calls "temporary management control".
The Kremlin described these moves as a response to Western sanctions against Russian companies.
Western officials and some of the companies have condemned Russia's nationalization of private property.
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