Airport & finance: trade unions against the blitz

Directed in Milan

It is no coincidence, of course. The real direction of everything is right there, completely different from Piazza Yenne. It could be said that "Ligantia" until then had nothing to do with the port of Southern Sardinia. It is not so. It was in that over-the-air meeting, remotely controlled from the F2i headquarters in Milan, that it was decided, in fact, to point the viewfinder on the Cagliari-Elmas airport. They don't say it, however, they write it directly. The words recorded in the deed we are in possession of, and of which we reproduce an excerpt, are attributed to Roberto Barbieri, the former senator of the Democratic Party, who ascended to the role of F2i's flying ambassador in Sardinia.

All already decided

The former companion of the skies in the minutes is explicit as never before: "More generally, he points out that, with the acquisition of Olbia, the Company's objective becomes to implement, in compliance with the relevant legislation, the system Sardinian airport and, with it, contribute to the development of the territory ". Words are not encrypted. That reference to the "Sardinian airport system" is much more than an anticipated takeover. All this planned in ambitions and procedures. They, the members of the board of directors, connected by double fiber with the F2i headquarters, at that moment, know that with the “Olbia” operation they will directly take up that 0.209% share of the Cagliari airport that was once in Alisarda. Not a large share, but an indispensable financial leverage to undermine the airport system of Southern Sardinia. And, of course, it is no coincidence that the Cagliari Chamber of Commerce, not even ten months after that board of directors of F2i Ligantia, is called to "share" the "private" plans decided in Milan, in spite of the autonomous management of the system Sardinian airport. In Largo Carlo Felice, headquarters of the public body "Chamber of Commerce of Cagliari and Oristano", the official maneuvers began yesterday to give a mandate to the President, Maurizio De Pascale, to define the contents of the operation with F2i Ligantia and the fund American BlackRock.

Public body, not private

An operation, however, which risks clashing precisely with the public nature of the Chamber of Commerce and with an airport concession issued by a state body, Enac. Two essential elements which, however, probably took a back seat in the face of the Christmas eagerness to bring home the Cagliari-Elmas airport immediately.

Public good

It is certain that the airport in the south of the island, from many points of view, starting from investments, 200 million euros, all state and regional, is a public good in all respects and cannot be decommissioned so easily. , neither on the share plan nor on the management one. The attempt to conceal the "privatization" plan was shattered in the face of the Sardinian Union investigation which revealed the documents and operations in progress. Now the public evidence, mandatory by law, will in no way fail. Just as the role of those financial funds, Italian and American, which have already placed their own pieces in the operation, cannot pass as a tinsel.

The American in Elmas

This is the case with BlackRock. The American fund is, in fact, fully entitled to take part in the Cagliari takeover, given that the company Ligantia F2i, which has in fact applied to manage the entire Sardinian airport system, holds a total shareholding of 15%. And it is no coincidence that the American fund has delegated none other than Serge Alexandre Lauper, chief executive of BlackRock Europe and global head of the infrastructure solutions team to represent him.

Check mate

He is responsible for the strategic direction, the creation of sector partnerships, the creation of investment opportunities and the supervision of their execution. As if to say, the most determined front runners took the field to prepare the checkmate of Cagliari airport, those who buy everything they want.

The trade union anti-aircraft

The anti-aircraft guns to try to save the Sardinian port, however, began to raise the first defenses. After the very tough stance taken by Confcommercio, with its president Alberto Bertolotti, "that traced by the President of the Chamber of Commerce is a very dangerous road", yesterday also the triple trade union at the highest level took the field, with a stance without margins for negotiation. Cgil, Cisl and Uil are not there. The note they released is explicit. The risk that workers run is the first major concern of the trade unions: "The trade unions - it is written in the document - are deeply worried about the future of Cagliari airport which would seem to be at the center of a financial operation potentially aimed at removing its control public with very serious risks for the prospects of the airport and its workers and for the interests of the Sardinian community ».

CGIL, CISL and UIL to war

"CGIL CISL and UIL of Cagliari - continues the note - thus take a position on the matter and also recall that the respective categories of Transport, Filt, Fit and Uiltrasporti, had already requested clarification from the ownership of the Sogaer group, or Chamber of Commerce". The request is for clarity and transparency: "Today that the rumors become more insistent CGIL CISL and UIL underline the need for a clear comparison on the real intentions of the subjects involved and a clear stance on the part of the owners."

Total rejection

The judgment of the Cagliari secretaries Carmelo Farci (Cgil) Mimmo Contu (Cisl) and Andrea Lai (Uil) is a clear and clear rejection: "It would be a dangerous operation to be rejected in any way, the airport assets must remain unchanged and instead, it is necessary to protect and enhance the airport by addressing open disputes to restore a solid perspective to all workers ".

Dead silence

At number one in via San Prospero in Milan they have already decided everything. In Largo Carlo Felice, with the statue still marked by the last coveted salvation of the rossoblu, however, silence is grave. On the official website of the Chamber of Commerce of Cagliari and Oristano the resolutions are updated calmly, once every semester. Usually they are not available for consultation, this time, however, it will be difficult to keep secret the de facto "sale" of the airport of the Sardinians to the Americans of "black stone" and to the financiers of San Prospero. At stake is the main connection infrastructure of Sardinia with the rest of the world. As if the keys to the house of the Sardinians ended up in the hands of the Yankees. The land of the Nuraghi would lose its gateway, others, perhaps, would conquer the Olympus of business on the Santa Gilla track and its surroundings.

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