A profit-making machine, the airport is set to change hands from public to private, despite the opposition of the Court of Auditors, the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC), and the Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority (ENAC), to name the most vocal opposition. The sale of the Cagliari-Elmas airport to the F2i Ligantia investment fund is also underway. The Region, which, together with the State, has invested over €250 million to date to connect the island to the rest of the world, is playing a key role. But it seems it wants to sell off this little gem.
Open case
The airport's privatization has been underway since September 8, 2023, when the Chamber of Commerce of Cagliari and Oristano, the majority shareholder with a 94.4% stake, passed Resolution 48, which concerns "the subscription to a capital increase in Ligantia through a contribution in kind of the stake held in Sogaer S.p.A." The objective: "to implement the Sardinian airport integration project," given that Ligantia already holds 71.25% of Sogeaal and 79.8% of Sogaer, the operators of Olbia and Alghero airports.
Unanimous position
But what's wrong with this commercial scenario, so much so that it has caused such diverse control bodies and supervisory bodies as the Court of Auditors and ENAC to unanimously align on the "no"? The former is the guardian of public finances, the latter oversees civil aviation. The answers can be found in the opinions issued, including those issued by ANAC, the Italian Anti-Corruption Authority, and by the Chamber of Auditors, which is responsible for assessing internal administrative and accounting compliance. These are consultative documents, non-binding but mandatory. The first point that everyone agrees on concerns the non-fungibility certificate that the Chamber of Deputies awarded to F2i Ligantia, identifying it as the "sole interlocutor," skipping the public tender. A "unilateral assessment" for the auditors, a characterization that "must be demonstrated and justified," ANAC wrote, but "this element continues to be missing from the agency's decisions."
