The Italian government will make
its decision on the future of Paolo Scaroni, the current CEO of
state-controlled energy giant Eni, "independently" of a court's
guilty ruling over illegal emissions at his old company, Italian
electric utility Enel, Premier Matteo Renzi has said.
Scaroni was waiting to find out if he would receive a
renewed three-year contract from the government when a court in
Rovigo on Monday sentenced him and another former Enel chief
executive, Franco Tato', to three years in prison.
The pair was also banned from holding public office for
five years for causing an "environmental disaster" at a northern
Italy powerplant by failing to install equipment that would
reduce the plant's pollution impact, and linked this to an
increase in respiratory diseases among children in the area.
The government is pushing for new corporate bylaws at Eni
and other state-controlled firms that would force board members
accused of financial crimes to step down in the early phases of
the multi-tiered judicial process.
But attorneys say Scaroni's crime, which he denies, would
not fall under that category.
Scaroni also denies separate allegations that have put him
under investigation for suspected involvement in bribes linked
to Algerian contracts won by Saipem, an Eni subsidiary.
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