(ANSA) - Rome, July 17 - Premier Giuseppe Conte has said he
is willing to report to the Senate on July 24 over suspicions a
person close to the League party discussed taking funding via
oil kickbacks from Russia, the opposition, centre-left
Democratic Party (PD) said Wednesday.
Conte himself said "parliament is sacred and I must report to
it".
He said "I am the top government authority" and so it was his
duty to report on the case.
PD Senate whip Andrea Marcucci said Conte had agreed to a
request from the party for him to report to parliament over this
issue.
Deputy Premier, Interior Minister and League leader Matteo
Salvini has refused to report to parliament specifically about
this case, but has said he is willing to talk about it during
his regular question-time session.
Salvini said his party has not taken a rouble off the
Russians and described the case as "ridiculous".
Milan prosecutors opened a probe after reports that
Lombardy-Russia Association President Paolo Savoini met with two
other Italians and three Russians in a Moscow hotel to discuss
siphoning off an alleged 65 million euros from oil profits.
The minister has denied inviting Savoini to take part in two
bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin
recently.
The PD and the League, meanwhile, clashed in a Lower House
committee on Wednesday after the former used obstructionist
tactics during the examination of Salvini's new decree with
measures aimed at boosting security.
The PD want Salvini to report to parliament specifically on
the Russia case and the obstructionism is continuing.
Italian police on Wednesday placed under investigation the
two Italians who said they attended the alleged talks with
Savoini, lawyers Gianluca Meranda and Francesco Vannucci, and
searched their homes.
Conte to report on League-Russia case
Meranda, Vannucci homes searched