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.
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