Atlantia took too much money as profits from the Highways? Europe-Italy question on the subject
The logo of the Atlantia group in Rome. REUTERS / Alessandro Bianchi
here we deal with a truly very important issue: the Commission, in the context of the State proceeding against Atlantia, with the possibility of canceling the concessions of the latter, intervened in favor of the latter, because there would be an excessive risk of damage to the company that sees the Benetton family among the majority shareholders.
It is essential that the Commission, which in January wrote a letter to the Government to protect Atlantia's shareholders in the purchase negotiation by CDP, make the appropriate checks on the management decisions that have affected the subsidiary ASPI over the years.
The issue is very delicate and in Genoa the process that will have to ascertain which conducts caused the collapse of the Morandi Bridge is in full swing. Some interceptions reported by the media have further indignant citizens and increased the expectation of a true justice.
The Lega has presented a question to the commission in which the European deputies, Campomenosi , Borchia and Rinaldi , and at national level the head of the Lega's infrastructure department, Rixi , ask to pay attention to the legitimacy of the remuneration that the shareholders of Atlantia have received. in recent years and on the negative effects that a possible reduction in ASPI costs could have caused to the maintenance interventions of the motorway sections under concession, as reported to the Genoa Public Prosecutor's Office by associations such as the Orange Area Committee Ponte Morandi, Usarci-Sparci Syndicate of Agents of Commerce, CNA Genoa, CNA Liguria, United Transport and Assiterminal.
The parties injured by the collapse state that Atlantia has received over the years compensation in excess of the cost of the service rendered and the reasonable profit margin for the fulfillment of public service obligations, as defined by the famous Altmark ruling with which the Court of Justice in the 2003 commented on the relationship between services of general economic interest and state aid rules. The analysis of the concessionaire's financial statements, of its economic and financial plan for the period 2018-2023, of the original agreement and of the additional deed of 2002, could suggest that this dividend distribution policy and the tariff proceeds may have been functional to cover the costs relating to the debt originally contracted as part of the acquisition of the Aspi shares.
The practice would in itself be legitimate in terms of company law but could represent illegal conduct if the debt were considered by the Commission as capital invested in the infrastructure. It is important that the EU clarifies whether in its opinion the concessionaire has used part of the revenues envisaged by the tariff, which should have been destined for maintenance works, to instead support the payment of a debt referable to the need to amortize the goodwill incurred. by Atlantia, or if this 'intracompany' transaction has been downloaded to the concessionaire, for the exclusive benefit of the shareholders and to the detriment of both the concessionaire itself and, finally, all users ".
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The Atlantia article took too much money as profit from the Highways? The Europe-Italy question on the subject comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/atlantia-prese-troppi-soldi-come-utili-dalle-autostrade-interrogazione-europa-italia-sul-tema/ on Mon, 22 Mar 2021 21:31:50 +0000.