850 million. It is the state's debt to Anas, the public operator of the Italian road and motorway network, according to what was stated by the president Pietro Ciucci in a document to the Chamber. But what is the risk? "If payments were to be further postponed - Ciucci said - the group would soon find itself unable to meet payments to contractors and suppliers for work already performed". Without considering that to complete the remaining 58 kilometers of the interminable Salerno-Reggio Calabria, according to the appeal of President Anas, 3,1 billion euros are still needed.
The consequences, explains Ciucci in the file filed, would therefore be "inevitable in terms of work progress, charges and interest on arrears, financial and social tension, given the effects that would ensue on the related businesses involved in carrying out the work on all the national territory". Furthermore, he continues, "since Anas is a joint-stock company, the persistence of situations in which, by not receiving the contributions due to it, the debts to third parties are consequently not honored, could lead to critical financial situations".
Therefore, according to the group, the Government should identify a mechanism that allows it to independently dispose of reasonably certain and programmable resources and think of strategic guidelines that can allow Anas to overcome the critical issues relating to the financing of investment. In particular, Ciucci talks about the need to bring the company closer to the market, through the opening of capital to private individuals or the issue of bond loans.
In 2007-2009, the National Autonomous Road Company received contributions of around 1,3 billion a year on average, while in subsequent years the resources allocated amounted to around 300 million a year, therefore, we read in the memory, at the in order to continue the objective of modernizing the country's infrastructural network, it is hoped that new resources will be allocated to the company.
