"UniCredit ready to support the Zes"

His origins, on his father's side, are in another island, Sicily, and now he arrives in Sardinia for the first time as CEO of UniCredit. Born and raised in Rome, but with a long professional experience in London, Andrea Orcel, 59, is described as a very competitive manager but also very attentive to innovation and the final result. Since taking the reins of UniCredit, he has insisted a lot on simplifying processes and enhancing the relationship with customers and will be on the island for an important initiative.

Dr. Orcel, this is the first time you have visited Sardinia as the CEO of UniCredit. We know that you are working on an initiative to enhance the opportunities of the Special Economic Zones for the South and for Sardinia.

“We have made available a 1 billion ceiling for companies that want to invest in the 8 Italian Zes. In the coming days here in Sardinia we will sign an agreement with Commissioner Zes with the aim of acting as a financial partner for companies that want to invest in the region. The ZES have established themselves in the world as tools for attracting investments and in other nations they have acted as a strong driver for development. For this reason, like UniCredit, we look at this issue with great interest, because they can relaunch the competitiveness of the territories and favor the reduction of the gaps between different areas of the country ".

Sardinia had a boom this summer, as did other regions, on the tourism front: from your observatory do you think this trend will continue or has it affected the post-pandemic?

«I am not surprised by the boom in Sardinia, we are talking about a magnificent land. The tourism sector has suffered a major setback due to the pandemic but it is a crucial sector for the economy of the country and the region. Precisely to support the relaunch we were the first bank in Italy to adhere to the Convention signed between the Ministry of Tourism, CDP and ABI and we will soon be able to grant subsidized loans for energy redevelopment, environmental sustainability and digital innovation of the sector's structures. I would like to say that all the conditions are in place for this year's boom to repeat itself in the future, but to achieve this result, companies will have to invest to improve competitiveness and create synergy with other leading sectors in the region ».

In your opinion, what are the strategic sectors for the island, besides tourism?

«Certainly the agri-food sector. Fostering the relationship between the agricultural and territorial tourism supply chains can generate economic value and new opportunities for strengthening tourist incoming. We strongly believe in UniCredit and this is why we recently relaunched “Made4Italy” by allocating a new ceiling of 5 billion euros for tourism and agriculture companies. Furthermore, we will shortly be operational in the new initiative of the Central Guarantee Fund with a special section aimed at facilitating access to credit for hotel companies and structures that carry out agritourism activities. Sardinia has many cards to play on this front thanks to the wide variety of landscapes and food and wine it offers ».

More generally, he said that we will face a period of recession but we need to understand how deep it will be: his forecasts?

"Surely the market is worried about inflation, war, energy problems and I think these things will all have an impact, but let's remember that Italy continues to grow more than Germany and France and that household wealth is higher. to 10 trillion and has increased by almost 200 billion compared to pre-Covid levels. However, this is not a classic economic crisis, but arises as a result of a war that led to specific political decisions with a direct impact on global geopolitics. It is not possible to have certainty about what will happen in the immediate future, we must focus on what we can control and as far as the bank is concerned, leverage the strength of our activities that derive from being a renewed bank, with a very strong operational performance and the best lines of defense in the sector, to face any challenge ».

Inflation and expensive energy: will a cap on the price of gas be able to calm the price increases?

“Governments are talking directly with industry and banks to take measures to absorb these shocks. Measures that, although temporary, should help support the economy. Surely it is necessary to act urgently, inflation and recession have not been seen for several decades and it is a complicated phenomenon to manage ».

What are the supports that UniCredit will put in place? And also in Sardinia?

«As UniCredit we have already intervened in advance and proactively with aid to help mitigate the negative impacts deriving from the dangerous inflationary pressure. We have launched an action plan worth a total of 8 billion with the aim of supporting household disposable income and the liquidity of the production system. These are concrete measures, for companies we have provided a ceiling of 5 billion to support their liquidity needs and we offer a new moratorium for loans that are not benefiting from public guarantees. In addition to this initiative, we also make medium / long-term loans available to Italian SMEs at controlled conditions to support the investments of companies in all sectors. Without forgetting the initiatives for the management of the family budget, such as the possibility to suspend, for a maximum duration of 12 months, the payment of the principal amount of the mortgage installments or to redefine the monthly installment. From 1 October it is also possible to defer card payments, with a plan of up to 6 months and zero rate and commissions ».

The NRP is a great opportunity: how does your bank stand up to the objectives of the plan and on which strategic sectors do you think we should focus more?

«The PNRR represents an unmissable opportunity for development. We have made available to SMEs accessing European funds under the Plan a range of financial and consulting solutions, including new loans at competitive rates also aimed at tackling increases in raw materials. The main objective is to provide new liquidity to supplement European funds to carry out the Pnrr calls that risk stalling due to price increases. We want to support companies in every sector to invest in sustainability and digitalization because they are a relaunch engine in this crucial phase for the country's economy ".

The stock exchanges, however, go up and down also due to geopolitical tensions: what is needed to restore stability to the markets? And for Italy, will a stable majority help the country?

“Governability is undoubtedly a positive element for the country. In general, we are certainly witnessing a phase of high market volatility and their stability will also greatly depend on geopolitical developments. If the war degenerates we could have a worse social economic impact than what we are seeing, but we cannot foresee it ».