No more disagreements at the top of the state railways and sprint on privatisation. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has decided to speed up and turn the page on the Fs. He no longer tolerates the delays due to the repeated disagreements between the CEO Michele Elia and the president Marcello Messori and plans to replace them shortly, as long anticipated by FIRSTonline, to decisively take the path of privatization on the model of that already applied to the Poste Italian.
Renzi made it clear to Elia and Messori, in the presence of Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan but not Transport Minister Graziano Delrio. This absence also makes us understand the direction that privatization will take.
The prime minister's first objective is to speed up the sale of around 40% of Fs and, to take this step, think of the turnaround at the top and the promotion of Renato Mazzoncini, today CEO of Busitalia (FS subsidiary for road transport) or, alternatively, the number one of Trenitalia, Vincenzo Soprano.
Renzi no longer wants to know about it clash at the top of the Fs which risks lengthening the time frame of privatisation but he also plans to apply the model of privatization en bloc of the Post Office, which is supported by Padoan and also by Elia but opposed by Delrio and Messori who have repeatedly signaled the need to privatize individual assets of the FS but to spin off and maintain in public hands a strategic asset such as the railway network.
Renzi does not share the privatization model suggested by Messori, with the support of Minister Delrio and the Transport Authority, but even more clamorously rejects Elia's work, which he considers unsuitable and incapable of managing the privatization despite the fact that the current CEO of FS has aligned himself with the privatization model preferred by Renzi to shorten the time.
Privatizing en bloc risks freezing the areas of inefficiency of the FS, defended by the old management group perched around Elia, subsidizing them with the more profitable ones such as the high-speed train but, right now, the prime minister is above all interested in giving a new signal to the markets and bringing about another privatisation, although probably the Treasury will collect less than it would with piecemeal privatization.
Next Thursday showdown in the board.
