875.6363/178: Telegram
The Ambassador in Italy (Fletcher) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 27—1:55 a.m.]
39. I have just had an interview with Contarini18 and he states that negotiations with Great Britain regarding Anglo-Persian oil concession in Albania are still actively in progress and that Italy still insists on securing its concession for 50,000 hectares. He tells me that the Anglo-Persian concession extends to approximately 200,000 hectares, but that the area is not defined by metes and bounds, and that Italy has not abandoned hope. I mentioned press reports from Rome and London stating that Anglo-Persian would grant Italy or Italian capitalists a certain share in the Albanian concession in return for which Italy would concede certain rights of exploitation in Italy to the Anglo-Persian Company. He absolutely denied this, declaring that there was no suggestion of Italian oil lands being involved in these negotiations, and intimated to me that the Italian Government would not be satisfied with a share in the Anglo-Persian concession in Albania, but wished a distinct and separate concession for Italy.
Repeated to London.
- Senator Contarini, Director General of the Italian Foreign Office.↩