Cabinet to mull fate of highway company ASPI

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 14 - Premier Giuseppe Conte's cabinet is set to meet at 22.00 on Tuesday to discuss the future of highways company Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI).
    ASPI, which is part of the Atlantia group controlled by the Benetton family, risks being stripped of its highway concessions for allegedly failing to respect its contractual obligations because it did not prevent the collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa in 2018, a disaster that claimed 43 lives.
    Conte said Monday that the Benetton family was "making fun" of Italians by failing to come up with a valid proposal for keeping its motorway concession.
    That proposal included an offer to pay 3.4 billion euros in compensation and to reduce toll fees.
    The government has threatened to strip ASPI of its motorway license unless it produces an "advantageous" proposal for the public.
    Conte has said the case has dragged on too long and the government must now make a decision.
    But ex-premier Matteo Renzi's Italia Viva party, one of the smaller parties in the ruling coalition, has warned revoking the concessions could backfire as the State might end up in a legal wrangle that it ends up losing.
    Analysts have said there is the risk of a 19 billion euro default if the concession is stripped. (ANSA).