(Finance) – “We are on the right path, I don’t think it was easy to even imagine it”. This is what he stated Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, commenting on the green light for the bridge loan for the former Ilva by the European Commission of 320 million euros. “Today – Urso said – we had important and significant news that comforts us that we are on the right track because the Commission has given the green light to the bridge loan. Therefore, at the same time it has confirmed that the industrial relaunch plan of the commissioners of the former Ilva is such as to allow the repayment of the bridge loan within the due time with a rather significant interest rate, which means that even in what is certainly the most challenging plant, the main steel plant in our country, and in Europe, we are on the right track. I don’t think it was easy to even imagine it”.
Satisfaction from the unions who are now asking for a meeting to be convened at Palazzo Chigi. “We consider the approval by the European Commission of the 320 million bridge loan to Acciaierie d’Italia in AS to be positive. Now there are the conditions for convening the round table at Palazzo Chigi, which we have been requesting for weeks, to resume the discussion with the government on the prospects of the former Ilva, on the industrial and restart plan, on the additional resources to be made available to the commissioners, on employment and on the announced tender notice – stated the Uilm leader, Rocco Palombella –. The 320 million euros, as we have repeatedly reiterated, are good news but are not enough to relaunch production, restart plants and get all workers back to work. We cannot wait a month for the meeting with the Government, the situation is dramatic with factories almost stopped and thousands of workers without certainties. We are strongly against resuming the discussion on the redundancy fund before a clarifying meeting at Palazzo Chigi on the prospects, the Government’s commitments and the industrial plan. The request for a meeting is urgent and cannot be postponed, and is also shared with local institutions, as in the case of Novi Ligure, with the President of the Piedmont Region, Alberto Cirio. Time is running out, the situation of the former Ilva risks reaching a point of no return and we cannot remain still. The Government should call us, we want to discuss work and the industrial future and not just redundancy fund”.
“The European Commission’s approval of the 320 million bridge loan to Acciaierie d’Italia in AS is good, but these resources are not sufficient given the conditions in which the former Ilva plants are found. However, too much time has passed since the bridge loan was announced. Now we need to understand when the resources will be actually available to the extraordinary commissioners – he declared in a note Loris Scarpa, National Coordinator of the Steel Industry of Fiom-Cgil –. The plants of all the former Ilva factories cannot continue to remain closed and ordinary and extraordinary maintenance interventions are necessary. And the workers live in uncertainty about their future, we still have to discuss the plan for the restart and the Government must discuss with the trade unions on the contents of the tender notice for the hypothesis of selling the company. For this reason, it is necessary to convene the table at Palazzo Chigi as soon as possible as requested jointly by Fim, Fiom and Uilm”.
“First of all, we must acknowledge the government and the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, for their commitment to this never-ending and troubled dispute. There is no time to waste, we must move forward and try to make a definitive change to the situation in which the largest steelworks in Europe finds itself – declared the National Secretary of Ugl Metalworkers, Antonio Spera –. Precisely because of the absolute necessity to do it quickly and well – he adds – we are available for a discussion with the government. Indeed, we ask to resume it as soon as possible to address the prospects of the former Ilva”.