The problem, this time, does not concern compensation, but the effective possibility of continuing to be public managers in the future. The protagonists, once again, are two top managers of the caliber of Franco Tatò and Paolo Scaroni. The first has an entrepreneurial history that goes from Enel to Parmalat. The second, also at the helm of the state-owned electricity giant, is currently at the top of Eni but above all his appointment is about to expire. In common Tatò and Scaroni now have a conviction in the first instance for the environmental disaster of the Porto Tolle plant in Veneto.
In fact, the court of Rovigo sentenced Tatò and Scaroni, the two managers who held the position of managing directors at the material time, to three years' imprisonment. For both, the accessory penalty of 5 years of disqualification from public office was also triggered. On the other hand, Fulvio Conti – current CEO of Enel – is saved, acquitted for lack of a subjective element.
The court effectively accepted the thesis put forward by the public prosecutor Manuela Fasolato: a relationship between excess emissions from the plant and damage to health and the environment. In detail, the company would not have installed the equipment that could have measured the impact of the emissions of the old plant, fueled by fuel oil. And this would have caused the increase in children's respiratory diseases. A figure confirmed by subsequent analyzes by the Veneto Cancer Institute. According to an estimate by the Ispra institute, the estimated damages are 3,6 billion euros.
The prosecution asked for 7 years' imprisonment and perpetual disqualification for Tatò, CEO from 1996 to 2002, and 5 years and 3 months and perpetual disqualification for Scaroni, at the top from 2002 to 2005. Fulvio Conti was asked for 3 years in prison and 5 of interdiction.
"I am completely unrelated to the matter and I will immediately appeal," Scaroni declared hotly. "I am amazed by this decision - adds the CEO of Eni - as demonstrated by the defenses, the Enel plant in Porto Tolle has always complied with the standards in force, even at the time of the disputed facts".
The reactions on the Stock Exchange of the shares of the companies led by the two were tepid. Enel, around 18 pm, lost 0,15%, Eni gained 0,17%.
The names of Franco Tatò, known in the news as the harsh Kaiser Franz of economic recovery, and Paolo Scaroni have appeared in recent days in the context of the controversy over the compensation of public supermanagers. But the problems that are now opening up with the first instance sentence fully invest future appointments, especially in the case of Scaroni.
In recent days, in fact, the Ministry of the Economy sent a letter to Enel, Eni and Finmeccanica and other public groups about to expire, in view of the appointments of the subsidiaries. The Treasury has asked "to introduce a specific clause on the subject of integrity requirements into the by-laws". In other words, no administrators on trial or convicted even with a non-definitive sentence.
