A solution is being sought to the chaos facing the former Ilva of Taranto. After request for withdrawal presented by ArcelorMittal, the timetable for shutting down the blast furnaces and the intervention of the public prosecutors, with the opening of two investigations in Taranto and Milan, the Government is moving cautiously, trying on the one hand to reopen negotiations with the French-Indian company, on the 'other to find alternative ways to protect jobs (10.700 employees) and related industries, while safeguarding the country's industrial capacity.
Four options are currently on the table to try to save the Apulian steel mill, but time is running out: according to the timetable presented by Arcelor to the unions, the first blast furnace will be shut down as early as December 13, while the final closure is scheduled for January.
FORMER ILVA: NEGOTIATIONS WITH ARCELORMITTAL
The primary solution remains that of keeping ArcelorMittal. Waiting for a decision of the Court of Milan on the withdrawal both on the part of the Executive and that of ArcelorMittal the will to find an agreement could re-emerge. In the meantime, judge Claudio Marangoni, in the provision in which he fixes the date of the hearing at 27 November, invited Arcelor not to "put in place further initiatives and conduct in hypotheses prejudicial to the full operation and functionality of the plants, possibly postponing the development of actions already autonomously prefigured for the time necessary for the development of the aforesaid procedure".
In view of the sentence, the scheduled – and then postponed – meeting between Prime Minister Conte and the top management of the steel company is on standby. However, reopening the dialogue with ArcelorMittal seems impossible without a step backwards by the Government, and above all by the M5S, on the penal shield. It is no coincidence that the cancellation of immunity first from the growth decree and then from the business decree was indicated by the company as the main basis on which the request for withdrawal is based. Any type of negotiation between the parties will not be able to ignore an issue that has kept both the previous and the new Government in the balance: if the penstatellati will not give in on the shield or in any case will not find a way to provide some legal guarantee to the company to carry on the industrial and environmental plan, ArcelorMittal will leave.
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FORMER ILVA: COMMISSIONERS AND BRIDGE LOAN
In an interview released a Capital Radio, the Minister for Regional Affairs, Francesco Boccia, outlines the way forward in the event that ArcelorMittal continues on its way, deciding to leave Taranto: the former Ilva will be handed back to the commissioners with the launch of a bridging loan from the state.
If Mittal does not assume his responsibilities, said Boccia a Circus Maximus, “there is the extraordinary administration that saved Ilva from the bankruptcy of the Rivas, with a bridging loan and with the aim of bringing the company back on the market within one-two years, as required by law. If necessary we will do it again without any problem. There is no alternative”.
FORMER ILVA: CDP IN THE FIELD?
However, direct state intervention, as well as the possible agreement with ArcelorMittal, may not be so simple to achieve. For this reason, as often happens in situations like these (it had already happened for Alitalia) the "Cdp joker" appears. The hypothesis would be that of allowing Cassa Depositi to enter the capital of Am Investco Italy, the company of the French-Indian group that manages the former Ilva plants, thus providing it with the support of a public supershareholder capable of giving solid and concrete guarantees. In this hypothesis, the Indian shareholders would remain with a significant share. However, it must be emphasized that the CDP, by statute, cannot make "risky" investments, having a mandate to protect postal savings. A condition that the Foundations intend to respect rigorously, so much so that they have already leaked their opposition to a possible intervention in the Ilva chaos.
The Premier is also cautious about the CDP's intervention Giuseppe Conte who stated during the ceremony for the 170th anniversary of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti: "The government does not intend to look at the Cassa as an instrument to resolve purely contingent issues in the short term, but wants to take on a long-term perspective, they identify guidelines for opening the country to new markets and implementing technological and digital development".
FORMER ILVA: THE CHINESE PARTNER
The other hypothesis on the table could lead to China, directly to the giant Jingye. According to reports from Il Sole 24 Ore, the Government is expected to meet in the coming days with the consultants of Ernest & Young, who in the past worked on the operation through which the Chinese group took over the British Steel mills, which last May had started a bankruptcy procedure, after the failure of the negotiations between the British government and the Greybull investment fund, which had taken over the company in 2016. The excellent climate established between Italy and China after the accession by the our country to the Silk Road.
UNIONS FROM MATTARELLA
On the evening of November 18, the unions will go up to the Quirinale to meet the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and express their concerns about the employment risks that the situation is entailing. The meeting is scheduled for 19.30.
