The troubles for Atac never seem to end. Sponsors are literally on the run, not inclined to invest in a company that offers a poor quality service and can rely on a deteriorating fleet of vehicles. No one seems willing to participate in the tender for the renewal of commercial agreements for advertising space on Atac media, and the auction base has been set at 20,5 million euros compared to 29 in 2015.
On September 27, the Bankruptcy Court upheld the bankruptcy agreement request of Atac, which has accumulated debts of 1,4 billion euros.
Given the situation, Atac will have to leverage the revenues from sponsors, who are less and less willing to invest in obtaining advertising space on approximately 3000 Atac media. The company led by Paolo Simioni – who holds the positions of President, CEO and General Manager – will start from an auction base of 20,5 million for advertising agreements over the next 5 years. In 2015, 29 million were requested. The difference between the two figures is easily explained: low quality of the service offered and the collapse of the economic system of Rome Capital under the M5S license plate.
The relationship with the French company IGP Decaux, Atac's current partner for commercials on buses and trams, expired at the end of September. In 2009 the subsidiary earned more than 16 million euros from advertising, in 2016 it stopped at 8,3 million, and the situation seems to deteriorate over the years.
The new advertising plan was supposed to clear the streets and encourage commercials on buses, but for now the idea remains only on paper.
“The Roman context – declared Simioni – discourages large national and above all international investors”. And here are the words of the constant detractors - often and willingly Roman citizens - of the services of the capital. Very often these are exploited complaints, but it is necessary to give them the space they deserve. The comparison with Milan no longer exists, too much difference in terms of efficiency and speed of movement. And in order not to make Rome look bad, it is better not to make comparisons with the great European capitals, it would be like shooting at the Red Cross.
Simioni can only confirm the current state of things: "The effective availability of the means is reduced by operating problems, with consequent uncertainty regarding the possibility of carrying out advertising campaigns within the agreed terms".
As long as the "Friday" strikes, the burning buses in the middle of the streets and the long waits will make the news, it will be difficult to talk about commercial and advertising agreements.
