Italian energy giant ENI said
Wednesday that it will stop supplying fuel to the troubled ILVA
steel plant in Taranto at the end of the year.
"Having ILVA not concluded any commercial agreement with
ENI, nor with any other gas supplier, ILVA entered a
default-supply regime on October 1, 2014," ENI said in a
statement. "That regime has a maximum duration of 90 days and,
as such, will expire at the end of the year". Earlier on
Wednesday, outing special commissioner for ILVA Piero Gnudi told
a parliamentary hearing that it would be a "catastrophe" for the
steel-maker if ENI cut off supplies, stressing it had paid all
its bills up to now.
Gnudi also said that it will be difficult to sell parts
of the troubled steel plant in southern Italy while much of it
is impounded.
Major international steel giants, such as
ArcelorMittal-Marcegaglia and Arvedi, have expressed interest,
but it would be a tough sell while ILVA is in continued
difficulty, Gnudi told a commission of the Lower House.
"Nobody ever bought an impounded company, and today 75% of
ILVA is seized," Gnudi said of the scandal-plagued steelmaker,
which has threatened to shed jobs and even close over the
massive costs of an environmental cleanup at its plant.
Private companies interested in ILVA "showed concern" about
its problems, including orders issued by European courts to deal
with the environmental problems at ILVA.
But all have said they could agree to "maintain employment
levels," added Gnudi, who became special commissioner of the
plant in June.
Earlier this month, Premier Matteo Renzi said that his
government was considering whether to take over the plant,
saying in media interviews that if it did, it would not be a
long-term deal.
Instead, Renzi said, if the government did take on ILVA, it
would hold Europe's largest steel producer for only "two or
three years, defend employment, protect the environment, and
then relaunch it on the market".
ILVA was placed under special administration by the
Italian government in 2013 and in October 2014, the European
Commission gave Italy two months to deal with the longstanding
health and environment problems at the ILVA steel plant.
If it fails, it risks seeing the case referred to the
European Court of Justice, the EC warned.
The European Union has been pressing Italy to ensure the
ILVA plant complies with laws on industrial emissions and health
standards, and said in October it had some "serious
shortcomings" Other problems around management of waste,
protection of soil, and groundwater are outstanding, the EU
said. The plant still emits too much industrial dust "with
potentially serious consequences for the health of the local
population and the environment". Brussels had already sent Italy
two previous letters urging action on ILVA.
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