Who makes war in Leonardo’s assembly
Progressive abandonment of the civilian sector in favor of the military sector, alleged involvement in the production of nuclear weapon systems and criticism of some board members proposed by the government at the center of speeches in Leonardo's shareholders' meeting Fondazione Finanza Etica and Rete Italiana Pace e Disarmo . All the details
Is Leonardo now betting everything on war?
This is the question at the basis of the questions posed by the Fondazione Finanza Etica (the cultural foundation of the Banca Etica Group) and the Italian Peace and Disarmament Network as shareholders at the Leonardo meeting scheduled for 9 May.
For the seventh consecutive year, the Ethical Finance Foundation and the Italian Peace and Disarmament Network take part in the assembly of the defense and aerospace giant, controlled with 30.2% by the Ministry of the Treasury.
“Leonardo has chosen to make use of a faculty provided for by the Italian legislation on Covid-19,” explained Teresa Masciopinto, president of the Fondazione Finanza Etica. "In this way, any form of contact and direct dialogue between the company and its shareholders is effectively prevented, despite the fact that the pandemic emergency has long since passed".
However, critical shareholders had the opportunity to submit written questions. Fondazione Finanza Etica sent around forty, collecting those from the Italian Peace and Disarmament Network and some male and female students of the Corporate Governance course at the University of Pisa.
Today at 6 pm the critical shareholders will publicly comment on the answers received from Leonardo.
All the details.
THE QUESTIONS RAISED BY THE BANCA ETICA AND THE ITALIAN PEACE AND DISARMAMENT NETWORK
Why is Leonardo turning into an almost entirely war industry?, ask the critical shareholders.
"We asked for explanations on Leonardo's actual generation of turnover and jobs in Italy," explains Francesco Vignarca, spokesman for the Italian Peace and Disarmament Network. "In fact, the State's commitment to a company that produces weapons used in international conflicts, with the risk of violating fundamental human rights, seems disproportionate to the actual, minimal economic benefits for Italy".
THE ABANDONED CIVIL SECTORS
In the last five years (2017-2022), Leonardo's military turnover has risen from 68% to 83% while in 2013 it was 49.6%. Meanwhile, for twenty years now the progressive divestment of a series of civilian sectors deemed non-strategic has begun: industrial automation, robotics, microelectronics, energy and railway transport.
“We were already present as a critical shareholder during the Moretti management – which changed the configuration from a holding company (formerly Finmeccanica) to a one company with various divisions – and within this process it was decided to dispose of a series of subsidiaries (such as the sale of the subsidiaries Ansaldo Breda and Ansaldo Sts to Hitachi in the railway sector)”, explained to Startmag Vignarca.
THE DISPOSAL OF ELSAG, ST MICROELECTRONICS AND ANSALDO
In 1998, the then still Finmeccanica group sold Elsag Bailey Process Automation, global leader in the field of automation; in 2004 he deprived himself of his industrial participation in JV in ST Microelectronics, the fourth group in the world in the strategic sector of microelectronics; in 2013 the disposal of Ansaldo Energia was concluded. In 2014, it initiated the disposal of the transport sector by selling AnsaldoBreda, Ansaldo STS and BredaMenarinibus (transactions concluded in 2015).
"Completely legitimately the company (and therefore the reference shareholder the State) has decided in recent years to move more and more into the military", the spokesman for the Italian Peace and Disarmament Network pointed out to Startmag .
IS IT THE MILITARY BUSINESS THAT IS DRIVING LEONARDO'S ACCOUNTS?
Yet it is precisely the military business that has been driving Leonardo's accounts in recent years. “Yes, but it would have driven more a civilian choice”, according to Vignarca: “the military accounts are growing above all at this moment in which the geopolitical situation raises military spending, but from an economic point of view, in our opinion and as emerges from numerous econometric studies, higher growth on a civilian shift, which hedges against military spending cycles (as evidenced by previous economic cycles).”
The problem is that if there is an increase in military spending, the company is awarded a series of orders, but these are linked to specific choices at that moment. Does the geostrategic situation change, military spending is reduced, or the EU countries decide to converge their military spending, the latter scenario will remove some players and what does the company do at that moment? Ask the states to keep the orders” points out Vignarca. Above all we are not talking about a completely private company that makes all the choices it wants and based on its own direct profit, but a state-controlled company with a golden share, whose evaluations of choice and trajectory cannot be affected from political decisions".
"Our data show that, contrary to popular belief, the military sector is riskier, less profitable and creates less employment than the civilian one," continues Vignarca. «It is therefore absurd that the state continues to support the progressive militarization of the group. In our Constitution it is clearly written that "Italy repudiates war". So why support it through a state-controlled multinational company?».
"Leonardo does not need costs to be converted to civilian status, it is a choice of the client and an industrial decision. The company has great internal capacity to be able to make productions that do not have a military relevance" concluded Vignarca.
INVOLVEMENT IN NUCLEAR WEAPON SYSTEMS PROGRAMS
Furthermore, among the questions sent to Leonardo, some also refer to the company's involvement in programs for weapon systems with nuclear potential. "Leonardo's alleged involvement in the production of nuclear weapons has already led to the company's exclusion from many portfolios of institutional investors," added Teresa Masciopinto. "So we're talking about financial risks as well as obvious humanitarian and reputational risks."
For this reason, Susi Snyder, coordinator of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2017, will also participate in the meeting on 8 May.
QUESTIONS ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE BOD
Finally, in the questions sent by the Fondazione Finanza Etica on behalf of the students of the University of Pisa, however, doubts are expressed about the government's appointment of former minister Roberto Cingolani as CEO of Leonardo who will succeed Alessandro Profumo. "We want to understand why Leonardo considered this candidacy admissible in the light of the law 215/2004 on conflicts of interest", explain Adrian Jaroszewicz, Alessandro Quaglia and Roberta Zumbo. "Similarly, we would like to understand how the candidacies for the Board of Directors of Francesco Macrì, leader of the Brothers of Italy in Arezzo, and Trifone Alfieri, politician of the League, can be reconciled with Leonardo's Skills Directory, i.e. the whole of experience and distinctive skills that should be brought to the BoD".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/chi-fa-la-guerra-assemblea-di-leonardo/ on Mon, 08 May 2023 14:22:26 +0000.