The former Ilva will be placed under commissionership. Until the end we tried to find an agreement with ArcelorMittal, but in the end the administration became the only viable way to protect the production and employment continuity of Acciaierie d'Italia.
The government confirmed the decision to the unions appoint Acciaierie d'Italia to commissioner. In fact, the decree approved by the Council of Ministers of 16 January will be signed today which provides, in article 1, that the public minority shareholder (i.e. Invitalia) can activate the extraordinary administration procedure.
The official communication came directly from Palazzo Chigi during themeeting with the unions held this afternoon in which the Minister for European Affairs, Raffaele Fitto (via video link), the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, the Minister of Labor and Social Policies, Marina Calderone were present (for the government) , the Minister of Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti (via video link) and the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council Alfredo Mantovano. For the trade unions present the representatives of Fiom Cgil, Michele De Palma; Fim-Cisl, Roberto Benaglia; Uilm-Uil, Rocco Palombella; Ugl metalworkers, Giovanni Antonio Spera and Usb Sasha Colautti (in video link) and Francesco Rizzo. A new round is expected in 14 days.
Palazzo Chigi: government looking for the best partners for former Ilva
“The representatives of the executive have informed that the extraordinary administration phase will be temporary and that the government is looking for the best private partners with the aim of safeguarding production continuity, protecting employment and guaranteeing worker safety”. This was reported in a note from Palazzo Chigi after the meeting between the government and the trade unions on the former Ilva in Taranto.
Invitalia's letter to Acciaierie d'Italia
In detail, Invitalia sent on Wednesday 17 January a letter to the CEO of Acciaierie d'Italia to request that the company be admitted to extraordinary administration procedure, report union sources present at the table with the government on the former Ilva. The CEO – it has been explained – must reply within 14 days. If it does not do so, Invitalia will be able to ask Mimit to activate extraordinary administration.
This is therefore the path chosen by the government after ArcelorMittal's refusal to participate in the capital increase and after the request for negotiated settlement presented two days ago to the Milan court by the same company. A move that came while attempts to find an agreement were still underway, which was seen by Palazzo Chigi as an attempt to buy time and create a disturbing situation. At this point the government decided to accelerate, reacting with the letter from Invitalia.
The decree law approved on Tuesday, among other things, strengthens, in the event of recourse to extraordinary administration, the measures already in place for protect production and employment continuity of companies in crisis, including the former Ilva, and provides for a specific rule that effectively freezes the funds set aside for pending judgments which will have to be placed in an escrow account linked to the authorization of the court.
The resources: 320 million from the government to guarantee production continuity
In the meantime, in order to guarantee production continuity, the government has made it known that it intends to use the 320 million euro initially planned for the capital increase project which should have brought Invitalia to a majority stake of 66%, diluting Mittal to 34%. During the meeting, Economy Minister Giorgetti would have specified that the liquidity of the extraordinary administration will be guaranteed with five-year loans, but in parallel we will try to find new private partners interested in investing.
Calderone: soon table at the ministry on shock absorbers
The next step, as revealed by the Minister of Labor Marina Calderone on the occasion of a conference of the Confederation of European Trade Unions Ces on welfare, will be the opening of the table at the Ministry of Labor on social safety nets. “I think it will be something almost immediate,” she said, adding that “Since we have not had a response from the majority shareholder, I believe that the government has assumed its responsibilities by following up on the necessary initiatives to protect workers. We will not leave workers behind in the broad sense, also paying attention to those who work in related industries. Our objective is to protect jobs and give guarantees and continuity of employment, and to pay maximum attention to issues related to safety", she concluded.
The reactions
“The main path continues to be public management. The government is proceeding along the path of the extraordinary administration decree. There are still 14 days, but it is clear that the divorce by legal or contractual means is now clear." Thus the leader of the Fiom, Michele De Palma, at the end of the meeting with the government on the former Ilva. “We pointed out that the situation is complex and that the first issue is to guarantee resources for workers and the safety and maintenance of the plants. The government responded that there is already 320 million available under the decree, which however is not enough to relaunch production. The government responded that the conditions exist to intervene with further resources. The employment guarantee applies to everyone, even to related industries. We asked for a specific table on this."
“After this meeting we believe we have the completeness that Mittal's strategy is now finished. They tried to use a tool to settle the dispute, to waste time, the government responded with a decree law, tomorrow it will be stamped and there will be the signature of the President of the Republic and the decree is law". As Rocco Palombella, general secretary of Uilm. “We continued to maintain that for us the extraordinary administration is an invasive tool that will create problems. In this context, "we have had reassurances from the government, that is, that they are available to verify what the consequences may be for companies, for workers in the procurement system to prevent such an instrument from being negative", continued Palombella. "Today we have definitively heard that there is no longer a private partner capable of causing negativity in the area but there is a private partner who continues to exploit these moments to prepare, probably, for a legal dispute", concluded the trade unionist.
