The role of companies owned by the State: this is the heart of the fact-finding investigation that the Chamber's Productive Activities commission has approved and which will start in mid-November. In Italy there are more than five thousand publicly owned companies. The shareholdings, direct and indirect, held by the State through the Ministry of Economy and Finance concern, from data dating back to 2005, approx four hundred companies. The employed are half a million, therefore almost 2 per cent of the national total e the value of production exceeds 11 per cent of gross domestic product. Companies owned by local administrations (Municipalities, Provinces, Regions and mountain communities) registered in the register of companies, according to data from Unioncamere, are well 4874. Of these, 3769 companies have deposited balance sheets, which employ 255 workers, or about 1 per cent of the national total, and produce a value added equal to 1,2 per cent of gross domestic product. Then there is a series of companies owned by other public bodies (Chambers of Commerce, public bodies, universities).
as to participation in the capital, the companies controlled directly or indirectly by Ministry of Economy can be grouped into three categories: some listed companies (such as Eni, Enel, Finmeccanica, Snam Rete Gas, Terna, Alitalia); someone unlisted companies also owned by other parties (for example, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti); company entirely owned by the state (including Poste Italiane, Ferrovie dello Stato and Anas).
Hence the decision of the Productive Activities commission to "acquire useful elements to evaluate how and if these two great realities of the Italian economy (the vast world of small and medium-sized enterprises and the reality of relevant and strategic sectors in public hands) are able to integrate each other and to create a system, or not”
In motivating the reasons for the fact-finding investigation, the Productive Activities Commission recalls that from an analysis carried out by the economist Edoardo Reviglio, on the companies owned by the State, it can be seen that their total value is almost 45 billion euros, of which 17,34 1,8 billion relating to the three listed companies (Enel, Finmeccanica and Eni), while the total portfolio yields only 6,7 percent to the state. Profitable companies have an average yield of XNUMX percent: in other words investee companies have a lower return than the average of private companies active in the same sectors.
As part of the investigation, a number of individuals will be heard, including first of all the institutional ones (representatives of the Ministries of Economic Development and the Economy, representatives of the Bank of Italy); therefore the hearings will concern the representatives of the top management of the main investee companies in the sectors of competence of the Commission (such as Enel, Eni, GSE, Sogin, Finmeccanica, Fincantieri, IPZS, SACE, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, SOGEI, STMicroelectronics Holding NV), some organizations representing the business world (such as Confindustria, RETE Imprese Italia) and the main trade union representatives (CGIL, CISL, UIL, UGL). The duration of the investigation was estimated at 6 months
