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The Council of Ministers started the process for afurther privatization of Poste Italiane. The government has launched a Prime Ministerial Decree (Decree of the Prime Minister) for sell a portion of the shareholding of the Treasury. This is the first stage of a process of which all the details will now have to be defined: but one thing is certain, at the end of the operation the State will retain control of the company.
What the government decided on the privatization of Poste Italiane The move came as a surprise in the evening, made known with the press release from Palazzo Chigi on the Council of Ministers held in the morning. A few lines under the title “State shareholdings”. The Council of Ministers “approved, in preliminary examination, a provision which regulates the sale of a share of the shareholding held by the Ministry of Economy and Finance in the capital of Poste Italiane, such as to maintain a State participation, even indirect, which ensures public control. The methods of disposal will also tend to favor the protection of widespread shareholding and the stability of the ownership structure”.
From the decree to Parliament: how the process works and continues The Prime Ministerial Decree, which starts the sale procedure along the lines of the previous privatization of 2015, should meanwhile set the public share below which it will not go. The measure will now have to be examined by the competent committees of Parliament for their opinion before the final approval. Currently the State controls approximately 65% of the company overall, of which 29.26% directly with the MEF and 35% indirectly through Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The line, according to the indications of Palazzo Chigi, would appear to be to sell part of the Treasury’s share, while guaranteeing that the State’s participation, even indirect, allows public “control” to be maintained.
The Meloni plan on privatizations An indication reiterated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni herself, who spoke of a “plan to rationalize state shareholdings”, not only to raise cash, but as an “industrial policy tool”. Thus reducing public presence “where it is not necessary” and instead asserting it “where it is necessary, such as in strategic assets”. The privatization plan set by the government in the Nadef indicates the objective of 1% of GDP, equal to approximately 20 billion euros, in the three-year period 2024-2026. An ambitious but within reach plan, assures the Prime Minister. Among the investments in the viewfinder, after Mps and Ita, we would also look at FS and Eni. Poste has already been the subject of a first tranche of privatization in 2015, when Matteo Renzi was in government. The then Minister of Economy, Pier Carlo Padoan, had put approximately 35% of the company on the market, grossing approximately three billion euros.