The vice premier and pentastellato leader Luigi Di Maio sinks another enterprise with his reckless words: after the Ilva case, the Atlantia case of the Benetton family exploded yesterday, which lost 925 million in market capitalization in three days.
With markets still open, Di Maio reiterated his intention to revoke the motorway concessions for the collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa - for which the process to ascertain responsibility is still ongoing - prophesying that "when the Government revokes the concessions, the Atlantia shares will lose on the stock exchange and the company will be de-cooked”. For this reason Di Maio excludes that Atlantia can join the new Alitalia because otherwise, being "decottated", it would also drag the new airline down.
These words further weakened the Atlantia stock on the Stock Exchange, which closed again in the negative.
Atlantia's reply to Di Maio is very harsh, complaining of "serious reputational damage" and preparing for "any legal action to protect its interests, employees, shareholders, bondholders and all stakeholders", including Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, which is an emanation of the Treasury and banking foundations.
"If Di Maio's words – commented the CEO of Atlantia, Giovanni Castellucci – had been said knowingly, there would also be grounds for denouncing him for market disturbance, but I think he did it unknowingly".
Confindustria also intervened on the new case and appealed to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte saying that "one cannot govern with anxiety and resentment" and also recalling the precedent of Ilva in Taranto where the Government reneged on the guarantees that had given in the lease agreement of the plant to Arcelor Mittal revoking the regulations on previous environmental pollution.
The deputy premier and leader of the League, Matteo Salvini, was clearly embarrassed, who tried to distance himself from Di Maio ("Here at stake are companies that give thousands of jobs") but by now the damage was done.
