Former Ilva, state shield for new investors blows up

With yet another episode in the dispute over the former Ilva, which has been going on for over a year, the government tried to protect itself against ArcelorMittal by inserting a provision in the decree law to be approved on 6 May by the Council of Ministers. But the measure, which was contained in the drafts that entered the cabinet, was scrapped in extremis after further evaluations of its legal tightness. The Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy will try to resubmit it, suitably corrected, during the parliamentary procedure of the decree.

The draft regulation, which Il Sole-24 Ore was able to view, had been prepared by the technicians of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy to safeguard the sale process of Acciaierie d'Italia, when a tender procedure will be published, from possible legal action by the majority shareholder ArcelorMittal. The French-Indian multinational could in fact take legal action to challenge the procedures that led to the 'forced' extraordinary administration, the antechamber to the sale to new private investors. Hence the need, according to the government, for a 'shield'.

The excerpted provision states that 'in the event that the sale is declared null and void as a result of flaws in the acts of the extraordinary administration procedure or in the sale procedure, the effects of the sale shall remain unaffected vis-à-vis the buyer and any compensation for damages shall be made only in equivalent terms'. The draft suggests that the government fears that it may lose a possible legal dispute, but wants to limit the possible effect to economic compensation, i.e., indemnification, avoiding at all costs that the property may revert to ArcelorMittal.

Confirmed, on the other hand, is the inclusion in the decree of the rule that attributes to the new extraordinary administration an additional 150 million taken from the old a.s. procedure and, in particular, from the assets, deriving from the confiscation of the Riva funds, which should be reserved for decarbonisation projects. In particular, it is foreseen that these 150 million can be drawn from the dowry reserved for decarbonisation projects if the resources have not yet been committed at the date of entry into force of the decree.

For the record, a first tranche, also of EUR 150 million, had been transferred from the assets earmarked for Acciaierie d'Italia by Decree 19 of 2 March 2024. In total, therefore, 300 million have now been diverted from reclamation and decarbonisation to the business continuity needs of Acciaierie d'Italia in a.s. An issue destined to cause debate, not least because it is not clear whether the government intends in the future to restore the dowry reserved for reducing the polluting impact of the Taranto site.