The highways become public again – Antonello Salerno

Precisely to monitor the infrastructures of national interest, the government is working to extend the application of the so-called golden power to concessions, i.e. the power of the executive to block or impose certain conditions on foreign companies that take on a relevant role in sectors. strategic and of national interest. Fundamental issues in a historical moment in which international tensions, starting from the ongoing war in Ukraine, have made it clear that it is important for individual states to maintain firm control over their strategic resources and avoid that they depend on foreign companies, or on private individuals who act solely for the sake of profit. Autostrade per l’Italia is an emblematic case, since the process for the company’s return to public hands began immediately after a tragedy: the collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa, on 14 August 2018, in which 43 people died. . The trial to ascertain responsibility for the accident will begin on July 7 and sees 59 people under investigation for multiple manslaughter, road homicide, omission of official acts, attack on transport safety, forgery and willful omission of safety devices on the premises of work. Among these, the former CEO of Aspi, Giovanni Castellucci, Michele Donferri Mitelli, who at the time was director of maintenance, Paolo Berti, who was in charge of Central Operations, and Antonino Galatà, former CEO of Spea, the company in charge maintenance.

But parallel to the judicial process, the collapse also generated a bitter political confrontation, which led to the start of the procedure for revoking the concession to Aspi. Autostrade per l’Italia reached an agreement with the state in October 2021, which envisaged the exit of Atlantia, a company controlled by the Benetton family, and the entry of a consortium led by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The formalization of this operation took place only a few weeks ago: Atlantia, which held 88.06 per cent of the capital and voting rights of Aspi, sold its package to a consortium 51 per cent owned by Cdp Equity , a company of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, and for the remaining 49 per cent by two private funds, Blackstone Infrastructure Partners and Macquire Asset Management, each with 24.5 per cent. The remaining 11.94 per cent of the company was in the hands of the Chinese fund Silk Road, which had already announced at the end of 2021 its intention to sell its 5 per cent in Aspi, and of Appia Investments with its 6.94 per cent. : in this case it is a fund owned by the German insurance giant Allianz and by Edf, the largest French company in the field of energy production and distribution.

“I believe that we are facing a partial rethinking, even if it is not a real backtrack on the process of privatizations, which represent a long wave that began in the seventies of the twentieth century”, explains Claudio Ferrari, full professor of applied economics at the University of Genoa and president of the Italian Society of Transport and Logistics Economics. “It was acknowledged that the privatization phase in Italy served above all to let liquidity enter the state coffers, while probably, and in an unintentional manner, the control phase was not well designed. This has resulted in the fact that serious shortcomings have been recorded over time, with dealers having almost free hands in the management of infrastructures “, says Ferrari, recalling that, if it is normal for individuals to seek profit,” the the principle of the efficiency of companies must remain in the general interest, and must be balanced by the verification and control activities by the public entity “.

Autostrade per l’Italia is today among the leading concessionaires for the construction and management of motorways in Europe, with a network of 2,855 kilometers in Italy alone. Its history begins with the reconstruction after the Second World War, in 1950, when Iri set up the Motorways Concessions and Construction Company. The milestone was the construction of the Autostrade del Sole between Milan and Naples, for which an agreement was signed with Anas in 1956, while the inauguration took place in 1964. The birth of the Autostrade group with the aggregation of other national investors of the sector dates back to 1982, and the landing in the Mib30 list of the Milan stock exchange arrives in 1987. The privatization dates back to 1999, when Iri sold its 30 percent package with which it exercised control of the company to Schemaventotto, controlled by the Benetton family . The current corporate structure was born in 2003, with Autostrade per l’Italia controlled by Autostrade Spa, which in 2007 will become Atlantia. The last agreement with Anas dates back to 2007, and entered into force in 2008, during the Berlusconi government. It provided for a thirty-year deadline, to 2038, which was then extended to 2042. The European Commission, in agreement with the Renzi government, had given the green light to the four-year extension as a counterpart to a series of investments in works and the company’s reassurance to limit itself to agreed tariff increases.

But how does the concession system work? The principle is that the state transfers the management and maintenance of motorway infrastructures to private entities or companies. The operators who obtain the concession in turn re-enter the investments by asking users to pay a toll. In all, in Italy today there are just over 6,500 kilometers of motorways managed by 24 dealers, although about half is in the hands of Aspi, while Astm (Autostrade Torino-Milano) manages 21 percent of the network, and the rest is controlled. by smaller companies such as Autostrade del Brennero or the Sicilian Motorway Consortium.

The ministry of infrastructures has been stipulating agreements and concessions since 2012. In January 2022, Minister Enrico Giovannini ordered the creation of an independent commission that will have the task of updating and reviewing the motorway concessions system, also adapting it to the requirements coming from the European Union. The work of the commission, chaired by Bernardo Giorgio Mattarella, professor of administrative law at the Luiss Guido Carli University, is almost completed. Useful information for the future of the sector in Italy comes from the attachment to the Economic and Finance Document (Def) presented on 23 May by the Ministry for Sustainable Infrastructure and Mobility.

The attachment is the document with which the government’s strategic choices are illustrated, and gives shape to the indications of the Def on which the interventions of the budget law will focus, which will be approved by the end of the year. The overall investment plan envisaged in the infrastructure annex is € 279.4 billion, 8.1 per cent more than in 2021, of which 83.5 billion will be allocated to roads and motorways.

Furthermore, at the end of April, Autostrade per l’Italia signed a memorandum of understanding, a preliminary agreement with Open Fiber, a wholesale operator in the Italian network infrastructure market, 60% owned by Cdp Equity. The agreement foresees that the digitalization projects of infrastructures, roads and networks, for “smart cities” and sustainable and innovative mobility, will be strengthened. Open Fiber and Aspi have also created a consortium, Open Fiber network solutions, for the completion of the fiber optic network, which involves the hiring and training of about one thousand specialized technicians who will come into action during the month of June. “The infrastructures are changing and are bound to change again in the years to come. The challenge is to associate the physical component with the digital part, which will also be essential for the efficiency of the networks. Whoever is the first to arrive at the best integration between these aspects will be able to enjoy the greatest benefits and a privileged position on the market ”, concludes Ferrari.