MILANO – The agreement between Autostrade per l’Italia and the Ministry of Sustainable Infrastructure and Mobility has been signed, following the collapse of the Morandi Bridge, which closes the procedure initiated by the then MIT in August 2018 for serious breach of maintenance and custody of the motorway network by the Aspi concessionaire. The agreement includes all the conditions defined on the occasion of the Cdm of 14 July 2020, which provide for some commitments, including the execution by the company of measures for the community for an amount of 3.4 billion and investments for 13, 6 billion on the network.
It was Mims himself who gave news of the agreement, together with the fact that today, in the preliminary hearing in the context of the criminal proceedings instituted at the Court of Genoa for the collapse of the Morandi Bridge, the Presidency of the Council and Mims himself they filed a civil action against the accused.
The change is also decisive for the closure of the change of control of Aspi, directed towards the Cdp-Fondo consortium. The holding Atlantia, now former owner of Aspi, took note of the signature between Autostrade and Mims and in a note notes that this signature “placed at the end of the dispute procedure for allegedly serious breach initiated at the time by the grantor following the tragic collapse of the Morandi bridge, represents an important step forward for the fulfillment of the suspensive condition envisaged by the contract “for the sale of the stake in the concessionaire to the Cdp-Fondi consortium. Confirmed the total amount of 3.4 billion of compensatory resources, made available by Aspi: over 1.4 billion euros are allocated to interventions in favor of the Ligurian community.
The settlement deed – explains Atlantia – “satisfies every claim for compensation of the grantor – as well as if it is definitively approved, to the extent of its competence, by the respective decision-making bodies of the aforementioned Ligurian territorial bodies – towards the concessionaire, allocating specific resources to the Ligurian territory in accordance with the needs represented by the aforementioned local institutions “.
Returning to the agreement at Mims, the agreement, reached after a long process, fully incorporates the conditions defined at the Council of Ministers of 14 July 2020, during the “Conte 2” government. On that occasion, in fact, also on the basis of the assessments of the specifically constituted interinstitutional working group and the State Attorney’s Office on the risks for the interests of the State and the community deriving from operational repercussions and from any dispute triggered by the termination of the concession relationship, the Government positively assessed ASPI’s proposal to review the conventional relationship, integrated with specific commitments, including the sale of the entire stake held by the Benetton family in ASPI and the execution by the company of measures for the community for an amount of 3.4 billion euros entirely borne by the company.
The economic and financial plan prepared in implementation of the agreement – reads the note – provides for an investment program on the entire motorway network managed by ASPI equal to 13.6 billion euros, of which 2.5 billion euros for extraordinary maintenance carry out by 2024, as well as the strengthening of supervisory and control activities, the implementation of IT systems to support mobility management, the increase of the penalties even in the case of slight violations by the Licensee, the acceptance of the tariff regulations introduced by the Transport Regulatory Authority (ART), with a significant moderation of the tariff dynamics on the entire motorway network. The documentation relating to the Economic and Financial Plan and the Agreement was also assessed by the Transport Regulation Authority and the State Attorney General, respectively for the regulatory and legal aspects.
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