What the Chinese risk in Alpi Aviaton in Draghi’s sights
Violation of the law on the handling of weapons materials and violation of the so-called golden power legislation are the crimes challenged by the judiciary and the Finance Police of Pordenone to Alpi Aviation
Two offenses alleged by the Fiamme Gialle against Alpi Aviation, an Italian company based in Friuli that produces military drones, acquired by a Chinese company controlled by the state in 2018.
Specifically, violation of law 185/1990, which governs the export of arms, and violation of the so-called Golden power. That is the legislation that confers special powers on the government to avoid the sale of strategic assets to foreign powers.
The Alpi Aviation company supplies, among other things, the Italian armed forces and is therefore subject to specific controls and supervision. Last September the Public Prosecutor of Pordenone has already ordered a series of searches and kidnappings against 6 managers (3 Italians and 3 Chinese).
VIOLATION OF THE MILITARY EXPORT LAW
For the GdF, the company has violated the law 185/1990, concerning the control, export, import and transit of military goods. According to the law, the transfer of military technology and production out of the country requires the permission of the Italian government. As Italian Tech recalled , “Alpi in 2019 sent a military drone to China and left it there for more than a year, falsely describing it as a“ radio-controlled aircraft model ”destined for an import fair in Shanghai that lasted five days. Prosecutors claim that the six executives have violated Italian laws on the export of military equipment ”.
THE CHINESE ACQUISITION OF ALPI AVIATION
As regards the violation of the golden power legislation, the sale of Alpi Aviation to the Chinese would have occurred in the absence of prior communication to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, as instead provided for by decree-law no. 21 of 2012.
The acquisition hinges on a scheme, analysts say, in which Chinese state-owned companies use seemingly private shell companies as a hedge to acquire companies producing specific technologies that they then relocate to new facilities in China.
This year the investigations of the GDF have clearly revealed the connection of the Italian company with China. In July 2018, a company called Mars Information Technology, which had registered in Hong Kong just two months earlier, bought a 75% stake in Alpi for 4 million euros and then invested another 1.5 million euros in it.
THE PARTNERS
As can be seen from the company's survey, in fact, with a share capital of 2,810,000 euros, Alpi Aviation srl is 75% controlled by Mars (HK) information technology co., Limited with headquarters in Hong Kong. 16% belongs to Moreno Stinat and the remaining 8.5% to Corrado Rusalen.
Below is the diagram released by the Gdf in September in comparison to the one created with the names of the various Chinese boxes in the tweet of Gabriele Carrer, journalist of Formiche.net .
On the left, the scheme released by the GdF in September, when it denounced six people attributable to Alpi Aviation, a company that also supplies drones to the Italian Armed Forces.
On the right the same scheme but with the names of the various Chinese boxes made by @D_Thorne . (2 / n) pic.twitter.com/SjANZLojOx
– Gabriele Carrer (@GabrieleCarrer) November 18, 2021
Furthermore, "the company communicated the change in the company structure to the Ministry of Defense only two years after the purchase and at the request of the ministerial officials", recalled Carrer.
THE INSTRUCTORY STARTED BY PALAZZO CHIGI ON ALPI AVIATION
"The Department for the administrative coordination of Palazzo Chigi, which is responsible for the investigation and coordination activities on the golden power, has already acquired the investigation documentation of Pordenone prosecution relating to sale and asked the parties involved of counterclaims" The signals Press.
CANCELLATION AND PENALTIES IN VIEW
Therefore, as Gabriele Carrer points out on Twitter, now “Palazzo Chigi will have to check whether the deal fell under the Golden Power regulations. If so, check why it was not reported. “If you ascertain violations of the obligation to notify, sanction. What penalties? There is everything in the dl March 15, 2012, n. 21: administrative sanction of an amount up to double the value of the transaction and in any case not less than 1 percent of turnover and a series of ancillary measures (restoration of the status quo ante) ".
"The investigation could lead to the cancellation of the sale (which dates back to 2018) and the issuance of penalties from 8 to 280 million euros" summarized La Stampa .
EVERY TIME THE GOVERNMENT HAS CALLED FOR THE GOLDEN POWER
Therefore, now the Italian government would be ready to exercise the so-called Golden power to block the Chinese sale of Alpi Aviation. It would not be the first time that the regulatory tool has been used to avoid the sale of strategic assets to foreign powers.
On March 31, the council of ministers used the veto to block the sale of 70% of the LPE to the Chinese company Shenzhen Investment Holdings Co. Subsequently, the government decided to block the purchase by the Chinese Syngenta of the Romagna seed producer Verisem.
THE LOCATION OF ALVI AVIATION
Finally, "the suspects have always denied the assumptions of the prosecutor" recalls the Messenger .
"The company firmly denies that in its conduct we must recognize violations of the rules protecting the Golden power and of the legislation that regulates the transfer of strategic information or technology outside the national territory" had specified the lawyers Antonio and bruno Malattia, who assist Alpi Aviation.
"Now Palazzo Chigi, with the green light of the prosecutor, has granted them access to the documents", concludes the Messenger .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/cinesi-alpi-aviation-draghi-sanzioni/ on Sat, 27 Nov 2021 06:05:10 +0000.