Italian economic development Minister Scajola and Russian industry Minister Khristenko visit the Pirelli Group's headquarters

Milan, 16 December 2008 - The Italian Minister for Economic Development, Claudio Scajola, and the Minister for Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Viktor B. Khristenko, visited today the headquarters of Pirelli in Milan-Bicocca and met with the Chairman of the Company, Marco Tronchetti Provera.

During the meeting, the Chairman and top management of Pirelli illustrated to the two ministers and their respective delegations the activities of the Group in the automotive, environmental and energy sectors, with particular reference to the Russian market.

The visit of Ministers Scajola and Khristenko coincides with an expansion phase for Pirelli in the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Indepedent States. The Company, in fact, will build an industrial facility with partner Russian Technologies for manufacturing of tyres in the Russian region of Samara, for a joint investment of about 300 million euros. On 6 November, as part of the Italian-Russian summit held in Moscow, Pirelli and Russian Technologies signed an agreement that forecasts the start of tyre production in Russia by the end of 2010.