There is no peace for the former Ilva of Taranto. ArcelorMittal has decided to back out and return the company to the state. A little over a year after its arrival in Taranto, Am InvestCo Italy, the Italian holding company of the French group, has notified the company's extraordinary commissioners of its intention to terminate the lease agreement with the acquisition of the Ilva Spa business and some subsidiaries acquired with the deal closed on October 31st.
The news was announced by ArcelorMittal itself, which through a note lets it be known that, "according to the contents of the agreement", the company "has asked the Extraordinary Commissioners to assume responsibility for the activities of Ilva and the employees within 30 days of receipt of the communication ”.
A very tough choice that puts the future of 10.700 workers at risk, of which 8.200 in Taranto alone.
To date, ArcelorMittal has a lease from the former Ilva. The transformation into an actual acquisition is only foreseen in 2020, at which time also the employee contracts, currently on a fixed-term basis, would have become fixed-term.
At the basis of the decision, there would be the government's about-face on criminal immunity. Lo shield for managers of the former Ilva of Taranto has disappeared since decree Save companies, finally approved on 3 November. The rule, previously also curtailed by the Growth Decree, was in fact the subject of a long internal conflict within the 5 Star Movement which prompted the Government to "set it aside", pending a new provision that could appease the spirits of the more upright pentastellati.
In the letter sent to commissioners and trade unions, ArcelorMittal underlines how the contract provides that "in the event that a new legislative measure affects the environment of the Taranto plant to such an extent as to make it impossible to manage it or implement the business plan, the company has the contractual right to withdraw from the same contract".
With effect from 3 November 2019 - adds Arcelor - "the Italian Parliament has eliminated the legal protection necessary for the Company to implement its environmental plan without the risk of criminal liability, thus justifying the communication of withdrawal".
The elimination of the "legal protection necessary for the company to implement its environmental plan without the risk of criminal liability", explains the company, legitimizes its decision "justifying the communication of withdrawal".
“Among ArcelorMIttal's main motivations, the mess on the penal shield. A masterpiece of incompetence and political cowardice: do not defuse the environmental bomb and unite the social bomb”. This is the comment of the national secretary of the Fim Cisl, Marco Bentivogli.
There are also other reasons behind the choice to terminate the contract, including the accounts: ArcelorMittal in Taranto produced only 4,5 million tons of steel. It should produce 6. Which means that the company lost 2 million euros a day.
“In addition, i provisions issued by the Criminal Court of Taranto oblige Ilva's Extraordinary Commissioners to complete certain prescriptions by 13 December 2019 - a deadline that the Commissioners themselves deemed impossible to meet - under penalty of shutting down blast furnace number 2. These prescriptions should reasonably and prudently also be applied to two other blast furnaces in the Taranto plant. The shutdown would make it impossible for the Company to implement its industrial plan, manage the Taranto plant and, in general, execute the Contract”, they specify again.
“Other serious events, independent of the will of the Company - says ArcelorMittal - have contributed to causing a situation of legal and operational uncertainty which has further and significantly compromised the ability to carry out necessary interventions at Ilva and to manage the Taranto plant. All the circumstances described also give the Company the right to terminate the Contract on the basis of the applicable articles and principles of the Italian civil code. In accordance with the content of the Agreement, the Company - writes ArceloMittal - has asked the Extraordinary Commissioners to assume responsibility for operations and employees within 30 days of their receipt of the aforementioned notice of withdrawal or termination”.
