The Italian subsidiary of ArcelorMittal has expressed its "concerns" to the Italian government regarding the current text of the growth decree, amending the legal protections linked to the fulfillment of the environmental plan. In summary, the Government, in the opinion of ArcelorMittal, changes the rules of the game in progress and this can prevent the achievement of the objectives agreed in the contract.
"If the Decree were to be approved in its current formulation - reads a statement - the provision relating to the Taranto plant would prejudice, for anyone, including ArcelorMittal, the ability to manage the plant while the environmental plan requested by the Government is being implemented Italian and dated September 2017”.
The company recalls that “the Taranto plant has been under seizure since 2012 and cannot be managed without the necessary legal safeguards until the complete implementation of the environmental plan. The 2017 environmental plan was designed to address the long-standing problems of the Taranto plant and to transform it into a state-of-the-art European steel plant, using the best available technologies, with a total environmental investment of over €1,15 billion. All the planned interventions are proceeding in full compliance with the deadlines".
However, the company observes, the growth decree “in its current formulation cancels the legal protections that existed when ArcelorMittal agreed to invest in the Taranto plant. Safeguards that need to remain in place until the environmental plan is completed to avoid incurring liability for problems that the current managers have not caused. The growth decree must be approved by 29 June. ArcelorMittal Italia remains confident that legal certainty will be restored in the interest of the entire Italian economic context and stakeholders, allowing ArcelorMittal Italia to continue to manage the plant and complete the environmental redevelopment plan".
