A “multi-crisis” that must be faced by companies with a long-term strategy and an extension of the support dedicated to them. Not only. To engage the change taking place and strengthen resilience, it is necessary to keep the bar always straight towards the carbonization objectives and the ESG criteria.
«In a context such as the current one characterized by the pandemic tail and the war in Ukraine – says the President of the Italian Stock Exchange Claudia Parzani – the risk, for companies, is to limit themselves to stopping the emergency with a short-term vision. On the contrary, a great deal of foresight is needed, also making the cultural leap of access to the capital market to make the investments necessary for innovation and sustainability that must not be interrupted ». The change of pace, explains Parzani during the panel dedicated to supporting the financial system for Made in Italy, “will have to start from governance, which is the enabling pillar of the ESG criteria, with a strong enhancement of human capital and the ability to affect territory”.
To allow companies to “preserve their operations” and continue to play their role in the economic system of our country, the deputy director general of ABI Gianfranco Torriero relaunches the invitation of President Antonio Patuelli to extend the measures to support liquidity, such as moratoriums and guarantees. “The toolbox that worked well during the most acute phase of the pandemic – says Torriero – must still be able to be activated: economic policy must anticipate the various needs of businesses with solutions and tools”.
This is echoed by Nicole Della Vedova, head of corporate finance at Enel Group. «Instruments such as the Italian Guarantee and the moratoriums – he underlines – have proved their effectiveness in allowing SMEs to be more flexible and to make investments. I don’t see why they shouldn’t be prolonged. Large companies like ours have benefited indirectly, but they have been decisive for our suppliers ». A support program, including financial support, set up by Enel two years ago is dedicated to them.
The other big challenge will be decarbonisation. «The crisis – says Della Vedova – has not changed our plans to reach this goal by 2040, ten years ahead of the trajectory established by the EU. In some cases there could be temporary slowdowns, but we must keep the bar straight to make the Italian system stronger in terms of alternative supply systems ».