Urso: ‘Former Ilva: Jindal has updated its binding offer’ [Catenaccio]
The outline of the new phase in the negotiations regarding the former Ilva is beginning to take shape, although many aspects remain to be clarified. ““There are two binding offers, one of which is from Jindal, who, according to what the commissioners have told me, has updated its proposal in light of the ruling by the Milan Court of Appeal (closure of the hot rolling mill, Ed.), and there are two expressions of interest, one of which is from Federacciai”. This was stated by the Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, speaking today, 28 August, via video link at La Piazza, organised by Affaritaliani.it, in Ceglie Messapica (Br). The other proposals are presumably those from the Flacks fund and the Czech firm Ce Industries. “The timeline for the closure of the hot section – that is, the blast furnaces and the facilities directly linked to them – is dictated by the Court of Appeal’s ruling, which states that those facilities must close within 90 days, and therefore by 28 October,” Urso pointed out.
Regarding the former Ilva site, ‘we are awaiting the formalisation of the bids, as Jindal’s bid has already been formalised. And then there is this possibility – the Italian consortium is currently preparing its bid and proposal. And then, there is also this declared expression of interest from the Czech group, which has not yet been formalised in any way,” said Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Minister for the Environment and Energy Security, yesterday, also in Ceglie Messapica, on the sidelines of the ‘La Piazza’ event.
Meanwhile, the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office is continuing its new investigation into the accounts of the former Ilva under ArcelorMittal’s management, following the report by the special administrators.
Almost one billion euros in ‘liabilities’ – that is, approximately 954 million, of which 750 million related to ‘debts arising from shareholder loans’ – and a ‘capital shortfall’, i.e. the difference between liabilities and assets, which exceeded 913 million euros. These are just some of the most telling figures set out in the judgement of the Milan Insolvency Court, which in November 2024 declared the insolvency of Acciaierie d’Italia Holding, the former parent company of AdI, which managed the former Ilva plant in Taranto. These figures are now at the centre – alongside the report issued two months ago by the special administrators – of the reopened investigation, which hypothesises a sort of plan – yet to be verified – to bring down the Italian steel industry in favour of ArcelorMittal’s alleged foreign interests. A new investigation in which Lucia Morselli, former chair and CEO of ArcelorMittal Italia and subsequently of Acciaierie d’Italia, has once again become a subject of investigation – following an initial and recent dismissal of charges, again relating to fraudulent bankruptcy – when Invitalia, the operational arm of the Ministry of the Economy. The case, which may later see the inclusion of other suspects from the board of directors of the former Ilva and into which complaints from creditors may also be incorporated, is being coordinated by Deputy Public Prosecutor Roberto Pellicano and Public Prosecutor Luigi Luzi, who requested and obtained the reopening of the investigation from the investigating judge. The investigation is based on the report submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in June by the special commissioners, which – following the model of the statement of claim in the civil case seeking 7 billion euros in damages against the management of the Franco-Indian group – reconstructs, step by step, a ‘premeditated predatory strategy’. Investigators will look into this by seizing documents and through the work of consultants. Experts appointed by the judges of the insolvency division had already highlighted ‘the substantial established liabilities’ of the holding company, which was declared insolvent along with the other companies in the AdI group, including the operating company, Acciaierie d’Italia spa.
