The protest was interrupted by the four workers who had been holed up at a height of one hundred meters on the chimney of the KSS plant of Portovesme srl for four days .

But "it is not a surrender", explain the workers who have come down from the chimney. « We grant yet another act of confidence in the government, which however will not be unlimited. In case we are ready for new initiatives ».

The summit at the ministry ended with the indication of a road map to identify a structural solution to the cost of energy .

From Monday, three inter-ministerial round tables will be set up with the company, the Region and the energy players: once the bilateral discussions have ended, Undersecretary Fausta Bergamotto, who is in charge of business crises, will convene a new round table with all the parties involved.

«The government - reads the final report of the meeting chaired by Bergamotto which was attended by the representatives of the workers, the four workers on the chimney, the Region, the municipality of Portoscuso and the representatives of Confindustria - considers it essential to identify, together with the Region of Sardinia , a structural solution for the energy cost of the Portovesme company, so that the production continuity of the Portoscuso and San Gavino plants can be ensured until the project to reconvert the plants towards the production of lithium comes into operation".

For this reason, the executive has asked the company not to interrupt production during this period of discussions. To mitigate energy costs, one could leverage the principle of insularity and the recognition of the Sardinian gap : on the one hand, the possibility of extending the tax credit equal to 45% of the cost of energy beyond the deadline of 31 March 2023, from The other is the use of the so-called super-interruptibility, which unlike in the past may not be considered State aid by the European Union.

THE REGION

Christian Solinas , who spoke at the meeting via videoconference, reiterated the objective of "safeguarding employment levels and keeping all production lines active".

"The dispute - commented the governor - aggravates the crisis of a territory that has already paid heavily for the effects of the energy crisis and the programming errors made in the past", recalling that " Portovesme has a national strategic importance because it represents the last of non-ferrous metallurgy remaining in the country ".

Solinas asked the government for certainties on the tax credit, "at least for the year 2023" , in order to "realign Sardinia's industrial production capacity to the conditions prevailing in the rest of the country".

"The companies and families of Sulcis - added the councilor for industry, Anita Pili - are already in a complex condition, in facing an energy transition in the absence of gas and other tools that would put us on a par with the others Italian regions. The Portovesme crisis represents the beginning of a crisis that will also affect other companies in cascade. It is urgent to fix it as soon as possible . The company must give its willingness to overcome this moment of crisis, to save Sulcis from further wounds compared to those it already has and historically had to face due to industrial crises».

Environment commissioner Porcu instead asked the company «to be much more precise on its conversion projects» .

THE MINISTER

«The news reassures me and gives me hope for a fruitful discussion with all the social partners and institutions involved. On our part, the maximum effort to find a solution, after years of lack of answers. I believe that the timely action of the ministry with the table chaired by Undersecretary Bergamotto has made everyone understand that we are on the same side », commented the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso.

(Unioneonline/L)

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