German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not
discuss about the Commerzbank-UniCredit case during a phone call
Thursday with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni who has "no
influence" over the actions undertaken by the Italian lender,
the chancellor's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said on Friday
during a press conference in Berlin.
He went on to say that the chancellor's statements referring to
the hostility of any takeover of Commerzbank by UniCredit
concerned actions that could be taken by the "bank, not by the
Italian state".
Scholz on Monday had described UniCredit's move to participate
in the German bank without consultation as an "unfriendly act"
which he said was not appropriate in Europe and in Germany,
speaking on the sidelines of a visit to New York.
"Unfriendly attacks, hostile takeovers are not a good thing for
banks", he had said.
Hebestreit on Friday said the chancellor had not discussed the
issue with Meloni because UniCredit is "not a State bank and the
Italian premier can't influence things", explaining Scholz's
comments on UniCredit's actions towards Commerzbank, in which
the German government owns a 12% stake.
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