Thursday, May 23, 2024

Vogon Today

Selected News from the Galaxy

StartMag

Report reports on Di Biase, Franceschini and Comin and Partners

5 months ago babelfish

Report reports on Di Biase, Franceschini and Comin and Partners

The report on the extra-parliamentary activities of the dem deputy, Michela Di Biase, and the responses of the MP and Comin & Partners

Gender equality and the affirmation of the rights of LGBTQIA+ people can also be a business. Report , Rai 3's investigative programme, tried last night to shed light on two singular events which concern the connection between political-ideal battles and business: the companies of the two deputies of the Democratic Party Alessandro Zan with Be Proud and Michela Di Biase with Objective 5.

“Report has revealed the private activities of two leading faces of the Democratic Party: always in the front row for the defense of civil rights, outside Parliament they have turned this noble political battle into a business,” we read in a post on edited by the Rai program hosted by Sigfrido Ranucci.

THE BE PROUD COMPANY AND THE BUSINESS OF THE PRIDE VILLAGE OF PADUA

Alessandro Zan, rapporteur of a bill against homophobia, transphobia, misogyny and ableism, is the sole director and majority shareholder of Be Proud, a company active in the organization of LGBTQIA+ themed events. “The Pride Village in Padua is owned by the company Be proud Srl and was set up with 3,000 euros by three partners – said Stefano Capaccioli, accountant and statutory auditor, to Lorenzo Vendemmiale di Report -. It is a trading company. In 2022 he collected more than 1,300,000 euros of which over 700,000 euros in entrance fees and over 450,000 euros from the bar takings".

Zan is the sole director and majority shareholder of the Srl, the beneficial economic beneficiary. Reached by the microphones of Report , Zan underlined that there is no profit-making activity in the activity of the Pride village of Padua. “It is an event where everything that is earned is poured into the initiative and therefore there is no type of gain – said Zan -. I lent my name to lend a hand, but I do it with a spirit of free service."

THE HONORABLE ZAN'S REPLY ON TWITTER

Mr Zan then reiterated his position on Twitter again. “As Report confirmed, I reiterate that I have never received any profit from the event, which I am proud to have founded and which has an important social value: the documents attest to this and are public – he writes on the social network -. I have always made myself available as a volunteer and free of charge, as confirmed by my mandatory annual declarations to the Chamber of Deputies. The company serves exclusively to organize the event, the proceeds of which are used every year to allow the creation and sustainability of the event itself. I thank Report again for giving me the opportunity to explain fully."

OBJECTIVE FIVE, GENDER EQUALITY AND ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS

Report also shined a light on the extra-parliamentary activity of the deputy of Michela Di Biase and Objective Cinque, a consultancy company that supports companies in obtaining gender equality certification. “There are many factors – strategic, cultural, managerial, organisational, managerial, relational – which affect gender equality at a company level and which are required in order to obtain the Certification. Hence the need to make use of specialist skills, such as those offered by Objective Cinque", we read on the company website. The Objective Cinque company offers support along at least four lines:

  • Assessment
  • Strategic and documentary consultancy
  • Communication consultancy
  • Training

The company, as Report recalls, was born 7 months before the approval of the Gribaudo law (law 5 November 2021, n. 162) which introduces the gender equality certification system (a system in which the Objective Cinque company is considered a leader ). Di Biase, as reported by Report , claims that the idea for the company came in 2020, well before she was elected.

DI BIASE'S KEY ROLE AS SECOND MANAGER OF THE COMPANY HEARD FROM REPORTS

“Obiettivo 5 is an agency that provides gender consultancy to businesses with an all-female team. Behind them, however, even if she does not appear, there is a prominent woman in politics: Michela Di Biase, PD deputy and Franceschini's wife", underlines the Rai program on companies that have highlighted the key role of the PD parliamentarian in society.

THE NUMBERS AND CUSTOMERS OF OBJECTIVE FIVE

Objective Cinque is an LLC established on 29 April 2021 with a share capital of 10 thousand euros. According to the company's financial statements, as of 31 December 2022, it had a production value of approximately 207 thousand euros (increasing by 192 thousand euros compared to the previous financial year), it has only one employee, the cost for personnel amounts to approximately 33 thousand euros, production costs are around 189 thousand euros and it has around 90 thousand euros in debt. The company boasts very important collaborations, as emerges from the site: the pharmaceutical company Novartis, Gucci, Ibl Banca, Philip Morris, Generali, Comin & Partners and Banca Ifis.

WHO ARE THE MEMBERS OF OBIETTIVO CINQUE: FULVIA ASTOLFI, STEFANIA BETTONI, ELENA DI GIOVANNI AND MICHELA DI BIASE

There are four partners, with the same shares of 25%: Fulvia Astolfi, Stefania Bettoni, Elena Di Giovanni and Michela Di Biase. The sole director is Beatrice Iovane, a professional with many years of experience "in the field of corporate consultancy and M&A project management" and "associate at Spada Partners, responsible for managing boards of auditors". Michela Di Biase , always a militant first of the DS and then of the PD, joined the council of the VII Municipality in 2006, the Municipality of Rome in 2013, the Region in 2018 and the parliament from 2022.

Fulvia Astolfi is a lawyer, co-founder of Objective Cinque, she is an independent director and member of the supervisory bodies of Poste Vita Spa, BPM Spa, Angelini Holding Spa, Autostrade dell'Antico srl, MedTech srl, furthermore, she is president of the European Women's Management and Development Association – EWMD. He also carries out academic activity as a lecturer at the Doctorate of Business and Law – Institutions and enterprise: value, rules and social responsibility (B&L), organized by the Department of Law and Department of Economics and Management of the University of Brescia.

Stefania Bettoni has been a partner of Spada Partners, a tax consultancy firm, since 2007. Graduated from Bocconi in 1994 in Economic and Social Disciplines (DES), she coordinates the team dedicated to the accounting and tax management of investment vehicles, both Private Equity Funds than financial and industrial, family and multinational holdings.

Elena Di Giovanni is Co-Founder & Vice Chair at Comin & Partners , a leading strategic consultancy and institutional relations agency. Di Giovanni is a manager specialized in international corporate communication, she was director of communication and external relations of Almaviva, of the La Biennale di Venezia Foundation, she is currently a board member of the National Gallery of Rome (GNAM) and she also has academic experience: she is adjunct professor at Luiss Business School.

COMIN AND GIOVANNI'S ANSWERS

The company responded via email to questions about the opportunity of the collaboration between Michela Di Biase and Comin & Partner, whose founding partners, Gianluca Comin and Elena Di Giovanni, were appointed to the Board of Directors of the Opera House and the National Gallery, by Dario Franceschini, then Minister of Cultural Heritage and husband of the Hon. Di Biase. Here are some of the communications company's responses to Report : “Obiettivo Cinque has drawn up Comin & Partners' 2022 gender budget and the latter will have to carry out press office functions for Objective Cinque. Furthermore, they proposed joint services on specific corporate sustainability projects. (…) The appointments of Gianluca Comin and Elena Di Giovanni took place long before the birth of Objective Cinque and involve free activities”.

On the Comin & Partners website you can find the launch two years ago of a project with Objective Cinque also presented by Di Giovanni without specifying that the vice president of the communications company is also a member of Objective Cinque.

OPEN'S INVESTIGATION ON MICHELA DI BIASE AND OBJECTIVE FIVE

Some time ago Open , the newspaper founded by Enrico Mentana, covered the Di Biase affair. “As can be seen from the asset declaration just filed with the Chamber of Deputies, the member of the Democratic Party, wife of Dario Franceschini and former regional councilor of Lazio, owns 25% of Objective Cinque srl, a consultancy company to implement those political principles within the company long professed – wrote the online newspaper -. The company was founded in May 2021 together with three other women, professionals in various fields: Fulvia Astolfi, Stefania Bettoni and Elena Di Giovanni. The first financial year closed with a profit of 5,047 euros, but the real activity began in 2022: on the company website, which is more up to date, the names of the multinationals that have used Objective Five's services are advertised". Gender policies are, therefore, also a business for Michela Di Biase. “From battles in institutions for female empowerment, to owning shares in a company that sells consultancy on how to achieve gender equality in the company, only the purpose changes: political or profit-making – adds Open -. Nothing illegal, let's be clear."

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/report-reporteggia-su-di-biase-franceschini-e-comin-and-partners/ on Mon, 11 Dec 2023 14:47:29 +0000.