Thanks to a loan granted by the European Union amounting to €320 million, Italian steelmaker Acciaierie d’Italia (former Ilva) will be able to restart operations after its split from steel giant ArcelorMittal.
The grant will allow the company to cover the costs of raw materials and contractors, but it will soon need new private investors to replace the Italian government in the acquisition of the plant. As reported by local Italian media, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni would like to make the period of extraordinary administration as short as possible: “I don’t want to nationalize. The conditions are favorable. We can find new private investors who are interested in making this company work”, she said in an interview on national TV a few days ago.
There are rumors that several companies have already shown interest, such as Italy’s Marcegaglia and Duferco and Ukraine’s Metinvest.
The arrival of new partners, though, will mean avoiding the old mistake of leaving complete autonomy to a private investor who would turn to the government only when in need of liquidity.
