Among the many things said by Prime Minister Enrico Letta on his institutional trip to the United States, there are not only the contents of the meeting with American President Barack Obama, but also a series of interviews, among which the one published today by the The Washington Post in which the Prime Minister officially opens up to some privatizations, however causing a mini-mystery for some statements about Terna.
"I think that now the markets are ready to buy and we will sell public assets", Letta declared to the prestigious US newspaper, suggesting that the Government intends to proceed with the announced privatizations, starting from Fincantieri, and so far all peaceful, given that it had already been talked about strongly in recent years, and by 49% of Terna, which however is currently only 30% controlled by the State (moreover indirectly, through the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti), and the remaining 70% is already on the market. The hypothesis that the premier was referring to half of that 30% is unlikely, or in any case difficult to interpret, given that the electricity grid is considered a strategic asset.
Yet it is not a typo by the agency, nor a possible typo by the American journalist: “Wand will sell public assets: Fincantieri, for instance. And wand will sell one part of Terna, which is the national electric grid. Of course, not 100 percent but 49 percent. We will present this privatization plan, and I think it will be a very important step“. These are actually Letta's words, which translated give: “Among the companies to be privatized is Fincantieri, for example. And then we will sell a part of Terna, which is the national electricity grid. Of course, not 100%, but 49%. We will present this privatization plan and – added the Italian premier on a visit to the US – I think it will be a very important step”.
