"We believe that our partnership with the Marcegaglia Group is able to offer a secure future for Ilva. We aim to increase the company's production to achieve full capacity utilization in order to generate more jobs and provide significant employment levels," said Aditya Mittal, CFO of ArcelorMittal Group and CEO of the company's European division, speaking on December 11 at a meeting in Rome attended by Ilva special commissioner Piero Gnudi, Antonio and Emma Marcegaglia of Italian steel group Marcegaglia, and the Italian economic development minister Federica Giudi.
Mr. Mittal continued, "We are also ready to make the necessary investments to introduce improvements in the production cycle, in the environment and in new types of products that will enable Ilva to maintain and expand its offering to the Italian and international markets. We are sure to be the best partners for Ilva, being able to ensure a sustainable future for its employees and for all its stakeholders."
In a joint statement released by ArcelorMittal and Marcegaglia, the multinational company and the Italian group described their discussions as "fruitful", and said they are "determined to continue discussions with representatives of the Italian government."
A non-binding offer for Ilva was made on November 25 by ArcelorMittal and Marcegaglia, specifically concerning Ilva's Taranto, Genoa and Novi Ligure plants.
The plan discussed by ArcelorMittal-Marcegaglia and the Italian government foresees that any accountability relating to Ilva's outstanding legal problems will remain within a "bad company", while the industrial activity will be concentrated within a "good company". In such a scenario, the bad company would be the entity called to answer for any legal problems arising from past management of Ilva. To reach this configuration, though, it will be necessary for Ilva to be admitted to extraordinary administration procedures. A current law to solve massive crises caused by the insolvency of large companies in Italy allows a special commissioner to ask for such procedures only when the company employs at least 500 employees and has accrued debts of at least €300 million. Therefore, the Italian government is planning to modify the relevant law as soon as possible.