Baku. 23 October. REPORT.AZ/ Residents of the richest regions of Italy - Lombardy and Veneto - voted in a symbolic referendum for the expansion of autonomy, the heads of both northern regions inform referring to the preliminary results.
Report informs referring to foreign media, results of the referendum have no legally binding force for the central government in Rome.
In Lombardy turnout was 40%, in Veneto 57%. According to local authorities, more than 90% of those who came voted for the greater autonomy.
Lombardy, which includes the financial capital of Italy - Milan, and the Veneto region with its capital in Venice - the most economically successful regions of the country. Their share in Italy's GDP is 30 percent.
One of the main claims of the regions is that they pay much more taxes to Rome than they receive from the budget. As a consequence, they want to reduce their payments to Rome at least twice.