“We cannot wait for the times of ordinary justice and therefore we start immediately the revocation of the concession to Autostrade” after the dramatic collapse of the Morandi Bridge, which caused dozens of deaths and injuries and ruined cars, trucks and homes, upsetting all of Genoa. This is what Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced at the end of an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers held in the prefecture of the Ligurian capital.
"We no longer trust you” the premier had told the representative of the Benetton family company in a meeting that took place yesterday. Obviously Autostrade doesn't agree, it claims that it has "always been correct", that it has carried out the planned maintenance, it denies that in the current state of the investigation it is possible to arrive at reliable conclusions on responsibilities and declares itself ready to rebuild the bridge in 5 months.
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The government's move can certainly open up a billion-dollar litigation because the concession clause to the motorway company provides heavy penalties in case of revocation, but by now the die has been cast, even if, in truth, the official communiqué from the Council of Ministers makes no mention of the start of the revocation.
On the other hand, the resignation of the CEO of Atlantia has been denied, the Benetton holding which controls Autostrade per l'Italia, despite the requests made by the Minister of Infrastructure, Danilo Toninelli. But, after Tuesday's crash, when the stock lost more than 5%, for Atlantia, another day of fire on the stock market is shaping up, while the Autostrade bond is plummeting on the bond markets.
The Conte government will appoint an Extraordinary Commissioner for Reconstruction of Genoa and has allocated 5 million for the first interventions but the return to normality will take months, with devastating effects on the economy of the Ligurian capital, whose viability is seriously compromised. The Government has planned for the Ligurian capital the state of emergency for 12 months.
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The announcement of the revocation of the Autostrade per l'Italia concession "was made in the absence of any prior specific complaint to the concessionaire and in the absence of investigations into the actual causes of the incident". This is Atlantia's reply in a note.
"While considering that even in the event of revocation or forfeiture of the concession (according to the rules and procedures governed therein), the concessionaire is in any case responsible for acknowledging the residual value of the concession - it continues - after deducting any penalties if and as applicable, the methods of such announcement may have repercussions for the company's shareholders and bondholders”.
Therefore, Atlantia "will continue to support the subsidiary Autostrade per l'Italia in dealings with the institutions in this delicate phase, also having regard to the protection of its shareholders and bondholders with correct and timely information to the market", concludes the note.
