Milan's bankruptcy court
declared ILVA, one of Europe's largest steel plants, insolvent
on Friday, with a debt totaling nearly 3 billion euros, the
judges' ruling said.
The troubled Taranto steel plant is under temporary public
control, a move that Premier Matteo Renzi said in December would
last at most 36 months.
Last week, the industry ministry named former power and
environmental executives Piero Gnudi, Enrico Laghi and Corrado
Carrubba as extraordinary commissioners, as part of the Italian
government's massive clean-up and turnaround project.
Gnudi, formerly an ILVA sub-commissioner, is an ex-sports
minister who was chairman of electrical power company Enel for
almost a decade, and said ILVA could return to profitability by
2017.
The ILVA plant has been shrouded in controversy in recent
years, related to serious pollution it has caused that has been
linked to an unusually high rate of cancers in the area.
Taranto Mayor Ippazio Stefano sent a letter to Renzi last
week in which he said some 3,000 workers have not been
adequately paid and they should be given the highest priority as
ILVA creditors.
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