The season of the big ones nominated, which will culminate in the spring with the choice of the top management of the major Italian public groups (da Eni ed Enel a Post, Terna e Leonardo), has in fact already begun and the Government center-right does not hide the ambition to practice the spoil system hands down. He aims to appoint managers of his trust in place of most of those in office, at the time chosen by the center-left governments or by the Conte governments. Does political loyalty come before competence? This is no surprise in public enterprises.
There are at least 70 seats up for grabs and, as the premier also hinted Giorgia Meloni in the end-of-year conference, the first objective of the new Government is the changing of the guard at the Directorate General of the Treasury, accused of having badly managed dossiers of the caliber of the Tim network and the privatization of ITA Airways and of not providing the necessary collaboration to the Executive . Barring twists and turns, Director Alessandro's chair Rivera seems to be the first to jump. But it will not be the only one: there are also two senior executives close to the Five Stars in the balance, namely Pasquale Tridic, President of INPS, and Marcello Minenna, Director General of Customs. "At home, Mr. NO" ruled in no uncertain terms the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, considered very close to Meloni and usually among the most reasoning.
APPOINTMENTS: BECAUSE THE TARGET IS ABOVE ALL LEONARDO AND WHY PROFUMO IS IN THE VIEWFINDER
But the big target of the nomination season is, as we said, the spring one and concerns the renewal of top positions from the large listed groups. In the viewfinder there is above all Leonardo and there's its current CEO, the successful ex-banker Alessandro Bouquet. The reasons are simple and they are reasons of power and political reasons: conquering Leonardo means managing an international group that has a turnover of around 15 billion euros, which distributes contracts and orders of great importance and which employs 50 employees. But in the center-right populist imagination, hitting Profumo also has other meanings, all political: it gives the impression of attacking the so-called strong powers, of putting the banks on the cross and of dethroning a manager of undisputed professional correctness but who has never hidden his his sympathies for the centre-left, from which he was first nominated in Ps (Renzi government) and then in Leonardo (Gentiloni government)
In reality Profumo, due to the international authority he enjoys and the financial results he has achieved, deserves broad reconfirmation and it is no coincidence that Leonardo is one of the stocks most awarded by the Stock Exchange with a 2022% increase in 28 when Piazza Business reported a 13% loss. But his figure is too iconic and the portfolio he manages too rich not to unleash the appetites of the ravenous troops of the right. And his legal troubles in the events related to the financial statements of Monte dei Paschi, of which he was CEO free of charge and which will probably end in stalemate in the wake of the acquittal of the former president of the Sienese bank, Giuseppe Mussari, are for his detractors an opportunity to maramaldeggiato.
APPOINTMENTS: WHO IS BERLUSCONI AND SALVINI'S CANDIDATE FOR LEONARDO
Berlusconi and Salvini have already told Meloni that they want Leonardo's leadership and that they have a man ready called Flavio Cattaneo, a trusted manager of the center-right who has always managed large groups such as Telecom Italia, Rai, Terna and Italo. However, it is not certain that Meloni, who will certainly listen to the advice of his defense minister Crosetto, who knows the field well, will support them. Rumors have been circulating for a few days that the premier would like the former minister of ecological transition to lead Leonardo, crawlers and that Profumo could remain as Group Chairman. We will see who wins the tug of war between Meloni and his restless government partners but one thing is certain: the battle over Leonardo will direct the entire chain of appointments and the risk Piazza Monte Grappa in Rome will start, a stone's throw from Rai, where Leonardo is based.
