There are not only the maneuver (the text arrives in the Senate today) or the objectives of the Pnrr to be brought home by the end of the year. The race against time for the Meloni government also touches some of the most delicate economic dossiers, on which much of the future of strategic sectors of fundamental importance for national security depends, such as the steel industry, air transport and telecommunications. Between the former Ilva, Ita Airways and Tim it is a challenge on which the modernization of the country largely depends, with over 25,000 jobs at stake. In all three cases a solution is expected by the end of the year. And then there is a race to convert the rave decree, with the majority fearing the opposition’s obstructionism.
Ex Ilva
The appointment to try to find a way out is fixed, barring surprises, for Wednesday 28 December at Palazzo Chigi, in the council of ministers. With the unions who, in the event of black smoke, are ready to organize a protest in front of the seat of government by next January 13th. The situation is incandescent and last week, after the works council meeting, accidents occurred in Taranto, after yet another nothing done during the shareholders’ meeting. A provision could therefore arrive in the cdm, probably a decree, which provides for a bridge loan of 650-680 million euros that will allow the company to face the liquidity crisis and reduce its heavy debt exposure to the main suppliers. However, maintaining the date of May 2024 for the passage of the majority of the state.
Urso: the situation is serious
This solution is strongly opposed by the unions, for which it is instead necessary to definitively dismiss ArcelorMittal, whose management is defined as “bankruptcy”. For the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy Urso “the situation is serious”, both from a financial and production point of view, with an exposure of hundreds of millions to Snam and Eni and a production that has collapsed from 10 million tons of steel in 2005 to 3 million tons in 2021.
Tim and unique network
Another equally strategic dossier concerns the single network. The deadline set by the government for the definition of the best market solutions has been set at 31 December. In the fourth and last of the meetings of the open table at Palazzo Chigi, scheduled for December 29 and also attended by Vivendi and Cdp Equity, we should therefore draw conclusions. The objective of the undersecretary to the presidency Alessio Butti and of the ministers Urso and of the head of the Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti is to arrive by that date at a solution to define the contours of a national network under public control and not vertically integrated, within the perimeter of which to include also Sparkle, given the sensitivity and relevance for national security of the telecommunications backbone. The roads still seem all open, starting with the sale of the network to one or more entities under state control, with the split of Tim: infrastructure on one side (Cdp) and services on the other (Vivendi). Then the names of Invitalia circulated, but also of Poste and Fs and on the institutional investors front, as well as Kkr, Macquarie (already a shareholder of Open Fiber) and Gip.
Ita Airways
The wedding with Lufthansa appears ever closer. The government has set the criteria in a new Dpcm now being examined by the Court of Auditors. The examination could be very fast, and publication in the Official Gazette could take place shortly, given that an assessment of the State accounting office is not necessary as no coverage is required. The goal is to complete the transaction within the year. The provision establishes the methods for the price of Ita, some governance precautions, the possible rapid involvement of the buyer in the management and above all the acquisition mechanism with one or more reserved capital increases which would allow resources to be left within the company for promote its development. In particular, unlike the previous dpcm of the Draghi government, the obligation for the Treasury to cede the majority of Ita is no longer in place, thus allowing the entry of a shareholder with a minority stake to be gradually increased. For the purposes of the sale, the business plan of the proposed buyer is of significant importance. The new Dpcm also indicates that the price for the purchase of Ita will have to take into account the value of the company’s equity.