Ex-ILVA declared insolvent

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 29 - A Milan bankruptcy court on Thursday declared the former ILVA steelworks at Taranto in Puglia insolvent, the necessary premise for the installation of special commissioner Giancarlo Quaranta to run the plant, now called Accaierie d'Italia (AdI), ahead of possible new foreign partners joining after multinational ArcelorMittal's term ended acrimoniously.
    The declaration of insolvency, at the same time, should pave the way for a possible probe into bankruptcy in the management and accounts of the sprawling steel mill, once the largest in Europe.
    The court declared the "absolute absence of liquidity" of AdI.
    Premier Giorgia Meloni last Thursday denied wanting to nationalise the steelworks after the government placed the struggling Taranto plant under extraordinary administration earlier in the week.
    On Tuesday of last week the government put AdI into administration after talks with ArcelorMittal, the majority stakeholder, broke down.
    It also appointed Quaranta, an engineer with long experience in the steel industry including a long stint at ILVA, as the extraordinary commissioner to run it.
    The steelworks, which currently employs some 10,000 workers, has racked up over three billion euros in debts amid an inability to pay its bills and suppliers.
    According to the Italian media, Ukrainian group Metinvest is interested in Taranto, as are Italian company Arvedi and Vulcan Green Steel, a unit of Indian group Jindal Steel and Power.
    (ANSA).