Rome's public transport could soon fly a foreign flag. Atac, the municipal company of the Campidoglio with its accounts in the red and marked in recent years by the "Parentopoli" scandal, is in fact betting on China and this is confirmed by the Transport Councilor of the Municipality of Rome, Guido Improta, who yesterday together with the mayor of Rome Ignazio Marino inaugurated the new FreeRomaPass Christmas line (electric minibuses for tourists): “We are interested in developing international partnerships because the important thing is to relaunch Rome as a destination for world-class industrial collaborations. We are in talks with Chinese partners who are also interested in Atac's industrial perimeter”, announces the commissioner.
A Chinese company would therefore be interested in entering into a partnership with Atac and, in particular, the Campidoglio is working on a possible leasing of the buses. The company would be King Long, which actually goes under the name of Industria Italiana Autobus, the newco owned with a minority stake (20%) by Finmeccanica (parent company of BredaMenarini) and the remaining 80% by the Italian branch of the Chinese giant King Long of the Del Rosso and Vinella families (with 40% each). It would therefore not be a question of a sale and it is not even the only negotiation for international partnerships: even the French company Bollorè, which manages electric mobility in Paris and was present yesterday at the inauguration of the minibuses, could supply a fleet of “green” and electric buses. Therefore, no privatization is on the horizon (for now) but there are already those who see these moves as a preview of future liberalisation.
“All capital operations will take place when Atac is in economic and financial equilibrium”, said Improta, who added: “Atac's general traffic plan and industrial plan are of international interest. Historical Italian suppliers such as Iveco have turned up, but also the French of Bollorè with whom we hope to collaborate, when European funding arrives, for the renewal of the fleet as regards electric mobility. There is a third line of negotiation then. That is, the renewal of the Atac fleet through leasing solutions. And it was precisely for this type of partnership that the Chinese showed up".
