Donnarumma: 'Railways, we aim to secure the plan investments'

Ferrovie is also the main contracting station of the NRP. What is the state of the art of investment?  

The group has more than EUR 24 billion in investments from the Recovery Plan. Of these we have realised more than 15 billion, and 95 per cent of this relates to railway infrastructure. And that is what we are strongly focused on. Obviously there are some risks of delays due to exogenous causes, but these have been strongly mitigated thanks to some industrial actions, on the one hand, and to the reshaping of the Plan agreed with the ministries and under scrutiny by the European Commission, on the other.

Is there a danger that some works in the NRP will be blocked because of the revision on the table in Brussels?

Absolutely not. The renegotiation will in no case result in a stop to the planned infrastructure. The rescheduling concerns, in fact, compliance with the schedule and, therefore, leads either to the exclusion of the work from the plan, which will, however, be financed with other funds, or to the reconfiguration of the target from a functional point of view, i.e., more shifted towards a construction profile.

Back to acquisitions. Pizzarotti has also been mentioned among the potential targets. Are you aiming to build the second construction pole? 

This is not our objective. Construction is a strategic sector for the country but it has some structural criticalities, such as the high fragmentation of operators, which risk significantly impacting and hindering the effective grounding of our group's investments. Our interest is to ensure that investments are realised because there is nothing worse than construction sites that stop because the contractor is unable to carry them out. And at this historic stage for the country and for the railways we cannot afford such delays.

Mermec has denied any interest. Is it not in your sights?

I don't want to rule anything out, but I would just like to point out that in the railway sector it has historically happened that most Italian companies, active in various segments, have become part of international groups, and this has meant that we have lost the Italian management of certain activities and, therefore, also the technology. And, on the other hand, being able to control a part of this chain would be a benefit for us because we are a company that plays an international role and the adoption of technologies that also see our contribution in their development is an important and strategic junction.

Between the names circulating, however, there are also companies in great difficulty. Is there no risk of a mere rescue operation? 

We do not want to intervene in the rescue of any company because our aim is not to rescue companies, but to protect activities so that works can be carried out. And, whatever the means to get there, if it is viable, legitimate and legal, we obviously try to put a project on track. Not to mention that there is another fundamental profile to consider.

Which one?

We hire thousands of people every year because we are a company of almost 100,000 employees that has a natural loss of resources due to retirement: let's say 4-5% per year. We put more or less the same number back in, but it is not enough because our infrastructure is growing, our services are growing and therefore our offer is growing. As a result, the presence of competent resources of a certain category makes us keen, especially if they are in the technical-operational areas that are the most difficult to identify. And, therefore, companies in crisis that have human resources that are objectively capable of operating complex technologies such as trains also become important to us from this point of view, just as railway sites become interesting because the territory does not abound in industrial sites that are available and, moreover, connected to the railways.

This looks like the Firema sketch..

Firema is certainly a potential case. On the table, however, we do not only have two or three initiatives, but there are several and in the coming weeks there could be some news in terms of expressions of interest.

What stage has been reached in the creation of a newco to which the routes in exclusive use of high-speed trains and some mixed routes such as the Florence-Rome direttissima are to be transferred?

I can confirm that the path has started, but we are continuing the assessments with the Mef. I would, however, like to point out that this perimeter would still remain under the control of the Railways and could see the application of the Rab (Regulatory asset base) method either through debt or equity co-participation. There is no decision on this yet, also because the method of financing will have to be decided by the Authority, but we do not want to privatise or list the company. We are only structuring a method to finance the works.

Does this mean that ticket prices will rise? 

In order to support the model, the tolls paid by railway companies will have to be increased from the current EUR 6 per train per km to around EUR 12 by 2030, while remaining well below the European benchmark of EUR 20.

But tolls also affect the final ticket price....

This increase, if it comes to fruition and is passed on to the ticket paid by the user, will only lead to an increase of a few euros. It would be a price adjustment having to guarantee better services.

If you get the necessary OKs, what timeframe do you envisage for the creation of the vehicle?

These are the months needed for the various formal steps. The goal, should all the reasoning go well, is to be operational by 2026.