In the future of the former Ilva there is no longer room for Arcelor Mittal. At least this is the vision of the government which is working to put an end to the era of the Franco-Italian giant of the Taranto steelworks group. A divorce that can be consensual, if the lawyers of the private partner and Invitalia find a solution by Wednesday, or with legal consequences and disputes. And the possibility that the company ends up in extraordinary administration, with the appointment of a commissioner, is real. This is the picture, cross-referencing the information to the Senate from the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, in the morning, and the meeting at Palazzo Chigi between the government and the secretaries of Fim, Fiom and Uilm, Roberto Benaglia, Michele De Palma and Rocco Palombella. The watchwords are “drastic intervention”, “change crew” and “reverse course”. The possibility of finding a consensual solution will expire on Wednesday. The executive, through Mantovano, explained that production continuity will be guaranteed and that the necessary resources will be made available. Next Thursday the unions will return to Palazzo Chigi to understand if Invitalia and Mittal have reached an agreement.
On the former Ilva “there is an urgent need for a drastic intervention that marks a clear turning point compared to the not at all exciting events of the last 10 years”. Thus the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, during a briefing to the Senate. “We are in a decisive moment that calls everyone to a sense of responsibility,” she said. Returning to the sender the hypothesis that the private partner – ArcelorMittal – falls into a minority (not bringing fresh resources to the group) but maintains joint governance with the State which would take full responsibility for the new recapitalization.
Workers and plants at risk
Urso’s intervention arrives on the day they are expected at Palazzo Chigi the trade unions to take stock of the fate of the steelworks, and in the aftermath of the emergence of a visit by the Carabinieri of the Operational and Ecological Unit to the Taranto offices to acquire documents on the plant’s emissions. On the table at the summit is the future of 10,600 employees of the factories of the group, mostly owned by ArcelorMittal and with Invitalia pushing for an injection of fresh money.
Gozzi (Federacciai): “The European steel industry needs an industrial plan or it risks disappearing” by Giovanni Pons 29 December 2023
The last stage of the intricate corporate story was on Monday, with the breakdown in the summit between the government and private partners. The public sector proposed to the company’s top management a capital increase of 320 million euros which would have brought Invitalia a majority, as well as providing the resources to guarantee operational continuity. From the top, however, Palazzo Chigi received ArcelorMittal’s unavailability to provide resources. Furthermore, according to Invitalia there is another billion needed to take over the plants from the commissioners by the end of May. Subsequently, the Indian steel giant made it known that it was willing to become a minority shareholder, as long as it maintained equal control. The scenarios that open up are those of extraordinary or controlled administration, with the puzzle of the exchange rate at the top of Acciaierie d’Italia and the litigation scenarios that risk further mortgaging the production future.
Former Ilva, what happens if the State returns to the majority by Giovanni Pons 08 January 2024
Urso: “No commitments kept, change crew”
Urso himself made it clear that ArcelorMittal’s proposal (falling into the minority but sharing governance) is not acceptable. “Arcelor Mittal has declared itself willing to accept being in the minority but not to contribute financially according to its share, offloading the entire financial burden on the State but at the same time claiming the privilege granted in the original agreements between the shareholders made when they gave life to the Acciaierie d’Italia company to share the governance in any case, so as to influence any further decision. Which is neither acceptable nor feasible both in substance and in light of the European constraints on state aid”.
Urso’s line therefore envisages a change in governance: “We intend to reverse the course by changing the crew – he said in the Senate – We are committed to rebuilding the former competitive Ilva on the green technology on which the Italian steel mills, the first in Europe, are already engaged”. He recalled the numbers of the industrial crisis: “The plant is in a serious crisis situation. In 2023, production will stand at less than 3 million tonnes, as in 2022, well below the minimum target which should have been 4 million, and then this year it will rise to 5 million”. And on this basis he then attacked : “None of what was planned was achieved. None of the commitments made were kept regarding employment levels and industrial relaunch.”
The “strongly unbalanced” shareholders’ agreements
Urso then returned to the decisions of the past, pointing the finger at a specific moment in the story: “The decision on the removal of the criminal shield placed ArcelorMittal in a position of strength towards the government. Faced with the threat of abandoning the site and in the absence of alternatives, in March 2020 the Conte 2 Government, minister Patuanelli, starts a new negotiation with the French-Indian investors from which Acciaierie d’Italia will be born with the entry of Invitalia at 38% and with the signing of shareholder agreements strongly unbalanced in favor of the private entity”. “Agreements which to define as leonine is a euphemism – Urso specifies – No one who cares about the national interest would ever have signed that type of agreement. No one who has knowledge of industrial dynamics would ever have accepted those conditions.”
Boccia attacks: “Omissions from Urso”
The comment by the president of the PD group in the Senate, Francesco Boccia, after Urso’s report was harsh: “Today he has fallen back into a series of omissions – attacks Boccia – The right has always been on the other side, on the side of the Rivas and those it was polluting when we were fighting for the health of the citizens of Taranto and we wanted a green change.” For Boccia, “today for the first time this Executive has the responsibility to clarify to workers what choices it will make, without mincing words” and again “Urso has listed a series of hypotheses that are in conflict with each other such as nationalization and extraordinary administration and faced with the interests of a private entity that moves its assets abroad. If there must be an extraordinary administration, it must be done with at least 1 billion in a special fund immediately available to guarantee a smooth transition.” Concluding that “what is unacceptable are your omissions and your divisions: we have heard three different positions from three ministers, with very serious omissions and today you owe Parliament, the country and the workers clarity”.
Calderone: “Maximum attention on employment”
Minister Marina Elvira Calderone also spoke about Ilva on the sidelines of the States General of Labor Consultants, saying that “the employment consequences and all the actions we will have to take to safeguard the employment pool are priorities”. And she added “that our utmost attention is precisely to not dispersing the skills of the workers and obviously also to protecting all Ilva workers in a broader sense, certainly starting from the Taranto plant but also looking at all the other production units”.