By Giulia Segreti
ROME (Reuters) – Atlantia
Rome has been threatening to revoke the toll road licence held by Atlantia’s Autostrade per l’Italia (Aspi) unit since a bridge it operated in the port city of Genoa collapsed in 2018, killing 43 people.
However, the ruling coalition has struggled to find a common position, with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement calling for the licence to be revoked and the centre-left PD urging caution, fearing a hefty compensation claim against the state.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said a final decision would be made by the end of the week, and Deputy Transport Minister Giancarlo Cancelleri stepped up the pressure in a newspaper interview published on Thursday by warning of a government crisis if it did not reach an agreement soon.
“We would have a big problem. The risk of a crisis would be inevitable if a solution is not found over the next week,” Cancelleri, a member of the 5-Star, told la Repubblica.
A government source told Reuters that senior officials from the treasury and the transport ministry were scheduled to meet Aspi’s top management later on Thursday.
In a blow to Atlantia, which is controlled by the prominent Benetton family, Italy’s top court ruled late on Wednesday that a law excluding the company from the reconstruction work on the bridge that collapsed was not unlawful.
At 0920 GMT, Atlantia shares were down 9.3% at 12.97 euros.
Cancelleri urged Conte to call a cabinet meeting soon for all government members to discuss the future of Aspi’s concession. He reiterated that 5-Star was pushing for a cut in Atlantia’s stake in Aspi and for a reduction in tolls.
“It has been dragging for too long, I agree. So, either we get an offer (from Atlantia) which is particularly advantageous … or we press ahead with the revocation,” Conte was quoted as saying at Italy’s embassy in Madrid on Wednesday by several Italian newspapers.
(Reporting by Giulia Segreti,; Additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome, Editing by Alex Richardson and Mark Potter)
