President Dmitry Medvedev called on Italian companies to cooperate in the Russian hi-tech sector, including in the Skolkovo research hub, during his visit to Italy on Friday.

"If we're talking about the future, it's very important to us that Italian companies should partake in the hi-tech spheres of Russia's economy," Medvedev said after talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Milan.

He said he had told Berlusconi about the Skolkovo hi-tech hub, which is being built from scratch 20 kilometers west of Moscow.

"There will be a special legal status there [in Skolkovo]," he said. "We hope it will be convenient for foreign investors, including our Italian partners."

Berlusconi complained that there is a lot of "bureaucratic pressure" on Italian companies operating in Russia, but he hoped it would be eased in the future.

"I think that our companies can hope that the Russian government will significantly ease the procedures hampering their activity," he said.

Medvedev has made developing the hi-tech sector and encouraging innovative research the focal point of his economic agenda.

MILAN, July 23 (RIA Novosti)