Italian Industry Minister Mr Patuanelli Accuses ArcelorMittal of Blackmail in Ilva Case

Release time：Nov 07, 2019 From：admin

Italian Prime Minister Mr Giuseppe Conte said that he would not allow ArcelorMittal to pull out of its acquisition of troubled steel plant Ilva. Mr Conte told reporters “A contract was agreed and we won’t bend on this. We expect that commitments be respected.”

Industry Minister Mr Stefano Patuanelli accused ArcelorMittal of trying to blackmail the country. He said “We won’t allow ArcelorMittal to blackmail the government by threatening more than 5,000 job cuts. Commitments should be upheld.”

But he suggested the government might be ready to issue a decree that spelt out existing legal protections that are already provided by Italy’s constitution. He said “We can consider a norm which explains this principle that is already enshrined in our legal system without making up any specially tailored rules for ArcelorMittal.”

ArcelorMittal announced on Monday it was scrapping a deal to buy Ilva’s site in the southern city of Taranto after Rome reneged on a pledge to grant immunity from prosecution over environmental damage in the area.

A meeting between Conte and ArcelorMittal officials to discuss the issue, initially scheduled Tuesday, has been postponed to Wednesday 

Ilva employs 10,700 people across Italy, including 8,000 workers in Taranto. Thousands more jobs depend indirectly on the plant, one of a shrinking number of large-scale industrial employers left in the south.