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by Tiziana Di Giovannandrea 22 May 2020Atlantia challenges the government by freezing extraordinary investments on the motorway network and threatens to go to legal channels, for the issue of concessions on which an agreement has not yet been reached, due to "serious damage".

The extraordinary Board of Directors of the Benetton company convened to evaluate the situation of Autostrade has decided that the financing available of 900 million euros will be used only for maintenance and investments for network security, in compliance with all obligations existing. At the same time, however, it was decided to block all other investments consisting of 14.5 billion works, of which 2.9 offered as a form of compensation for the tragic accident in Genoa which included 1.5 billion investments and reduced tariffs for commuters, 700 million additional projects on the network and another 700 for the reconstruction of the bridge.

In a note, the BoD of Atlantia specifies that "While continuing to trust in a rapid and positive solution to the matter", it postpones "the realization of other investments once the necessary financial allocations have been found". 

The company's lawyers are given a mandate to "Evaluate all the necessary initiatives for the protection of the company and the Group, given the serious damage" due "to the uncertainty on the revocation and the Milleproroghe decree" containing a rule that changes the value of the compensation in case of revocation of the concession with consequent financial difficulties for the Group.

The note claims that no response has yet been received to the formal proposal sent by the subsidiary Autostrade per l'Italia (Aspi) to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport on March 5, which had the aim of finding a shared solution regarding the dispute procedure. in progress for almost two years now. Atlantia explains that "it is bearing all the costs for the construction of the new Genoa bridge (now completed) and has immediately activated the compensation to people and businesses, also outsourcing the infrastructure inspection system". But "the situation of uncertainty continues unfortunately to continue, despite having authoritative representatives of the Executive publicly manifested, since last February, its willingness to evaluate Aspi's proposals, and also declared, at the end of April, the successful conclusion of the analysis of the dossier ", continues the note.

Having not yet received a response and after learning of some statements by the Deputy Minister of Economy Stefano Buffagni, for which the Benetton family companies would not be entitled to loans guaranteed by the State, according to the rules set out in the Relaunch Decree, Atlantia has decided to to react.