The Russia-Ukraine conflict worries the Italian nautical industry's big players.

The military conflict that has erupted between Russia and Ukraine is bad news for the nautical market, particularly the superyacht segment. "We are concerned, even though we cannot yet estimate the impact on the nautical industry," said Saverio Cecchi, president of Confindustria Nautica, summarizing the sentiments of his members.

The topic was the subject of discussion at the event "Road to Expo Dubai – Nautica, la grande bellezza della Liguria" held in Genoa and organized by Liguria International and the Liguria region in preparation for the institutional mission to Dubai.

Vincenzo Poerio, CEO of Tankoa Yachts, noted in his speech that "Russia is an important market for large-scale yachting; just consider that 50% of Russia's wealthy men have a boat built. I must say," he added, "that the most significant impact, if any, will be on large boats. There are many Russian customers who buy smaller boats, but the biggest impact will ultimately be on larger ones. Italy perhaps has a much smaller share of the Russian market than Northern Europe."

Even more realistic is the view of Diego Deprati, CEO of Baglietto, who says, "There's no doubt that this conflict will certainly not make our work easier. I've been in this business for 30 years, and these events, these crises and wars, seem cyclical. This one is probably worse than the others." According to the Baglietto CEO, "There will certainly be some tension, probably delays in deliveries and possible contract renegotiations. It's a familiar story, so we need to persevere, we need to be prepared, because I certainly see some difficulty on the horizon."

Giovanna Vitelli, vice president of Azimut-Benetti, agreed: "There will certainly be an impact on the nautical industry," she explained. "After the United States, Russia is the second largest market for the nautical industry, so the numbers are inevitably significant. I can't predict what will happen; we're always hoping that negotiations can change the course of the conflict." Finally, she added that "for now, the feedback we're getting from customers is fairly wait-and-see, meaning they shouldn't make any decisions but should give themselves a time frame to see what happens."

Barbara Amerio, CEO of Permare, also expressed "great concern," while adding that "it's still too early to know if there will be negative consequences." She also went on to highlight another sensitive issue: "I think there could also be a significant impact on the crews of these vessels and on the refitting process."

Finally, the reasoning and hope of Ferruccio Rossi, general manager of Sanlorenzo, are clear and understandable: "We consider that ours is a sector based on beauty; war generates pain. It's clear that there is a contradiction between these two human manifestations. We count on and hope that this moment will pass as quickly as possible and the conditions of freedom can be restored for the Ukrainian people."

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