A Taranto preliminary
hearings judge on Monday re-indicted 44 individuals and three
companies - ILVA, Riva Fire and Riva Forni Elettrici - in the
alleged environmental disaster caused in the Puglia city by the
giant ILVA steelworks.
The 44 include ILVA managers, politicians and businessmen.
The case was sent back to the preliminary hearings stage on
a technicality by the Taranto court of assizes.
The first hearing has been set for May 17 at the court of
assizes.
The Assize Court of Taranto on December 9 annulled an order
to stand trial for the 44 people, citing that the preliminary
hearing record didn't include the name of the public defender
for 10 defendants whose lawyers weren't present that day, while
in the preliminary hearing judge's decision that name is
present.
Earlier this month nineteen bids for the troubled
steelmaker were admitted to the due diligence phase.
There had been, in fact, 29 expressions of interest in
purchasing ILVA assets and affiliates.
They included offers from Luxembourg-based steelmaker
ArcelorMittal, Cremona-based steel manufacturer Arvedi Group,
Milan-based steelmaker EUSIDER, and family-owned Marcegaglia
Group steel processor.
Extraordinary commissioners managing ILVA as the firm
undergoes a massive environmental cleanup and financial
turnaround project assessed the offers.
State-controlled investment bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti
(CDP) filed an expression of interest.
A court this year declared ILVA insolvent, with debt
totalling nearly three billion euros.
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