If not now, when? After the days of the great cold, the signs of a possible agreement on Aspi, the main subsidiary of Atlantia, and the Benetton family, in turn the main shareholder of the infrastructure giant. A forecast that explains the positive trend of the title justified by several clues. It certainly goes in this direction the appointment of Enrico Laghi, ex-commissioner of Alitalia, to the presidency of the Edizione holding company, in replacement of Gianni Mion. The right interlocutor, to try to reopen a channel of communication with Palazzo Chigi and with the rest of the government.
But other gestures confirm that on the Benetton side, the hypothesis of the agreement is prevailing. In recent days Autostrade (Aspi) has sent the authorities a proposal for an economic and financial plan (Pef) which accepts the findings of the Authority for the regulation of transport (Art) to resolve the differences that emerged in October. This was reported on Sunday by a source familiar with the matter, adding that the average tariff increase contained in the new proposal is below the 1,75% ceiling imposed by Art.
Autostrade also informed the Ministry of Transport on Saturday that it had accepted the addendum, a contractual document linked to the Pef. If you add the yes to the settlement deed for the closure of the revocation procedure, Aspi claims to have accepted all the acts formally proposed by the government in the formulation requested by the executive. At this point the ball of the Economy, for the final ok to the Pef. But maybe that won't be the case.
The reason? The interceptions at the basis of the restrictive measures against theex to Giovanni Castellucci they have given voice to the hawks who are asking for the concession to be revoked. Without compensation, if the (unlikely) thesis that the origin of the collapse of the Morandi bridge was caused by a systematic malicious cut in maintenance. A thrilling hypothesis if you think about the fallout on Atlantia, destined to certain default and on minority shareholders, some of the caliber of Allianz or the Singapore sovereign wealth fund. Stuff to make the BTP building shake from its foundations. A remote hypothesis, but probably sufficient to make postpone CDP's non-binding offer, together with the Macquarie and Blackstone funds for Aspi which should expire on November 30, the same date of the installation of the Prosecutor of Genoa, scheduled for the end of January.
The parties are far too talking about money to be allocated for evolutionary maintenance, an item which includes the works to make viaducts and tunnels safe in order to comply with EU standards and remedy the neglect of the past. The necessary maintenance works amount, according to experts, to 20 billion. Aspi proposes 7 until 2038, the expiry date of the concession plus 3,4 billion offered in compensation by Atlantia. To cover the difference, public contributions and higher tariffs will be used which, according to the latest proposal, will be lower than the 1,75% envisaged by the Art (probably 1,67%). Much below the 1,91% achieved by the Gavio group for Astm. But the streets of the highways are really endless.
