Two Decades After Privatization, Big Public Companies in Italy to be State-Controlled Again?

Twenty years after some large public companies were privatized, a reverse process is being considered now, whereby big companies would go back to being state-owned, as some of them, like Alitalia, Ilva, one of the largest steel mills, or the latest case, Autostrade, seem to have no other option of recovering their business.

The majority in the current Italian government agree about the idea, including opposition parties.

The reasons are various, Radio Kopar reminds.

In the case of the steel mill, the company has been trying in vain for years to solve the problem of the accruing debts. As for Alitalia, it has turned out to be non-competitive in the world market.

When it comes to the banks that the state has had to save after bankruptcy, such as the big and important Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, becoming state-owned was a way of bringing back citizens' and clients' trust.

According to the media, the motives for de-privatization have to do with policies aiming to put companies of vital interest, such as telecommunications companies, under state control.

– It seems that the past twenty years have only served the expose the inability of Italian capitalism to manage companies efficiently, with profit and respect for the citizens – says a comment on the Radio Kopar portal.

What's worrying, it is said, is that there is neither a plan nor a criterion for how to manage sectors of strategic importance for the country.

Government of Italy

Alitalia

Autostrade

Ilva

Banca Monte Dei Paschi di Siena

deprivatization of companies