Milan — The long-awaited meeting between representatives of Meloni’s government and the leaders of ArcelorMittal to resolve the delicate question of the former Ilva of Taranto ended in nothing. The meeting was attended by the Ministers of Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, for EU affairs and Pnrr, Raffaele Fitto, Mimit, Adolfo Urso, Labour, Elvira Calderone and the Vice President of the Presidency of the Council Alfredo Mantovano on one side. Arcelor CEO Aditya Mittal and Invitalia Bernardo Mattarella. However, this was not enough to find a solution to inject new resources into the steel mill, which is operating at a very slow pace, with production of around 3 million tonnes against the 5-6 million envisaged in the plans and a redundancy fund for thousands of employees.
Ex Ilva, tugged between Fitto and Urso over the future of the steel mill
by Giovanni Pons
At yesterday’s meeting, the government presented the idea of increasing Invitalia to 60% of the capital – as envisaged by the agreements signed in December 2020 by Invitalia’s former CEO Domenico Arcuri – and then making a new capital increase of 320 million to meet the company’s needs, which CEO Lucia Morselli had quantified last October to 420 million. But the parties did not agree on new payments and the subsequent change in the company’s management, which should lead Invitalia to appoint a new CEO and ArcelorMittal to nominate a president.
In the next step, the government assumed that Invitalia would subscribe the entire capital of 320 million, with a subsequent increase to 66% of the capital of Acciaierie d’Italia. But this move was also rejected by Mittal and would not be decisive in any case, since 77% of the capital is needed to change the management of the company.
After all this came a harsh note from Palazzo Chigi: “The government has noted ArcelorMittal’s inability to make financial and investment commitments, even as a minority shareholder, and has mandated Invitalia to make follow-up decisions through its legal team”. It is hard to say what the next steps will be, the government seems to be disoriented, on Thursday the unions were convened again, while Luca Cordero di Montezemolo appeared at the Palazzo Chigi at the same time as the negotiations.
Gozzi (Federacciai): “The European steel industry needs an industrial plan, otherwise it risks its demise”
by Giovanni Pons
The situation appears to be very complicated also due to the effects of agreements and contracts signed in the past, which must be interpreted by the parties’ lawyers. One of the questions concerns the addendum to the 2020 contract signed by Arcuri, in which it is said that Invitalia will work for the former Ilva to obtain another two billion or so of resources to cover the investment. A promise taken by Minister Fitto in the tentative agreement signed with Mittal on 9/11, but which now appears to have been shelved. The fact is that time is running out as the lease for the plants under emergency management expires on May 31 and the plants must be purchased by that date if Acciaierie d’Italia is to move forward. This requires a further capital raise, which Invitalia estimates at around one billion, while Mittal believes it could be lower as the price is negotiable. To that end, Morselli has presented a series of claims worth 1.1 billion in recent months, which must be heard in multiple arbitrations, but which could be subject to compensation for the price of the plants. It is no coincidence that the company contracts stipulate that the relationship with the commissioners is solely controlled by the ArcelorMittal shareholder, and this is another element that the government will have to take into account.