“The only certain thing is that the debts that have been contracted cannot be discharged onto the State and this will not happen. This is the certain thing that we have always said”. This was assured by the Minister of Transport, Maurizio Lupi, regarding the Alitalia affair. Lupi underlined that he did not want to comment on the indiscretions on the negotiation between the Italian company and Etihad, inviting them to wait for an agreement between the two companies: "We will see how the confrontation between the two private companies goes - he underlined - I understand that there are meetings in progress and therefore we look carefully as far as we are concerned at the work that is being done. We are judging not on the basis of indiscretions but we hope on a possible agreement, on the outline of an agreement that can be made between two carriers that we consider very important and whose alliance would be a great opportunity to relaunch not only for Alitalia but for the entire airport system and transport in Italy”.
“I am moderately optimistic”, also said the minister, who then noted “Thanks to the agreement with Etihad, we will finally return to the world as protagonists”. In any case, the minister reiterated, "we will judge the agreement, if there is one, on the basis of the industrial plan that will be presented and with regard to the contents of this agreement". “It is evident that the government is working for this company – Lupi continued – not to make a bad company but to relaunch the business system. Alitalia is a strategic company and everyone must do their part”, concluded the minister.
