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☆ TIM grid sale paves way for state-controlled network operator - minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Tim logo is seen at its headquarters in Rome, Italy November 22, 2021. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia's (TIM) (TLIT.MI) planned sale of its fixed-line network to U.S. fund KKR (KKR.N) boosts the prospects of creating a national grid operator under state control, Italy's industry minister said on Tuesday. "Prospectively, I think this [the deal] will enhance the creation of a national grid operator under public control, in full respect of the EU competition law," Minister Adolfo Urso said during an event in Rome. The 19-billion-euro deal ($20.4 billion) is backed by the administration of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which authorised the Treasury to spend up to 2.2 billion euros to take a 20% stake in the network. ($1 = 0.9330 euros)Reporting by Elvira Pollina, editing Federico MaccioniOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Yara, Adolfo Urso, Giorgia Meloni, Elvira Pollina, Federico Maccioni Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Telecom, KKR, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy

The EU's proposed "Euro 7" law would tighten limits on health-harming pollutants from combustion engine cars. The European Commission, which drafts new EU laws, has said the health benefits would far outweigh the costs. However, EU countries and lawmakers - which are in charge of negotiating the final law in the coming months - have each agreed to weaken the rules. Green lawmakers criticised the vote as a missed chance to reduce the roughly 70,000 premature deaths per year in Europe attributed to vehicle pollution. "The EU is missing the opportunity to be the future leader in green technology," Green EU lawmaker Bas Eickhout added.

Persons: Yves Herman, Alexandr Vondra, Bas Eickhout, Adolfo Urso, Kate Abnett, Alvise Armellini, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, New, European Commission, Commission, Italy's Industry, EU, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, Rights BRUSSELS, Union, Europe, Italy, Czech Republic

☆ Italy backs calls for tech firms to help fund EU telecoms networks
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Italy broadly supports proposals at European Union level to ensure that Big Tech firms partly finance telecoms infrastructure in the bloc, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said in a statement on Tuesday. "All market players benefiting from the digital transformation must contribute fairly and proportionately to infrastructure costs," Urso said, intervening at an EU telecoms minister meeting in Leon, Spain. However, before introducing any legislation, the EU must carefully assess whether and to what extent network infrastructure is effectively overloaded by content and services generated by Big Tech firms, Urso added. Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Telecom Italia (TIM) (TLIT.MI) term it fair-share funding, while Big Tech says it amounts to an internet tax. "Italy believes the EU Commission should carry out further assessment and more time is needed to evaluate the extent of the impact of traffic generated on the network infrastructure" Urso said.

Persons: Adolfo Urso, Urso, Thierry Breton, Giuseppe Fonte, Elvira Pollina, Keith Weir Organizations: European Union, Big Tech, Industry, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Microsoft, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, France Telecom, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Italy, Leon, Spain, Orange

☆ Italy remains open to investment by Intel, rival chipmakers - minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A smartphone with a displayed Intel logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Italy remains open to a possible investment by Intel (INTC.O) in the country and would also welcome other chip makers, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said on Wednesday. The minister said Italy had offered a state contribution to facilitate the Intel investment and the U.S. company had not asked for more. Intel last year announced it aimed to build an advanced packaging and assembly chip factory in Italy as part of a wider long-term investment plan to expand capacity across Europe. Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte Writing by Keith Weir, editing by Alvise ArmelliniOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Adolfo Urso, Giuseppe Fonte, Keith Weir, Alvise Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Intel, Industry, U.S ., Thomson Locations: Italy, U.S, Europe

Security guards stand at the BYD booth at the Auto Shanghai show, in Shanghai, China April 19, 2023. Rome sees the French incentive framework as "reasonable", one of the sources said, adding the government was studying such an option. European Union competition rules do not allow countries to favour local producers. Paris has said criteria it adopted are compliant with WTO rules because exemptions are allowed for health and environmental reasons. Talks, which are expected to go on until the end of this year, include new incentive schemes in Italy.

Persons: Aly, Adolfo Urso, Giuseppe Fonte, Gilles Guillaume, Parisand Giulio Piovaccari, Giulio Piovaccari, Keith Weir Organizations: Auto, REUTERS, Reuters, European Union, Fiat, Industry, Thomson Locations: Auto Shanghai, Shanghai, China, Italy, France, Europe, Rome, Paris, Milan

☆ EU ministers weaken position on vehicle emissions
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A sign directing towards electric vehicle charging points is seen in a car park in Manchester, Britain, September 8, 2023. The European Union has progressively tightened road vehicle emission limits since 1992. Spain, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, presented a compromise text agreed by the Council of the European Union, the grouping of EU ministers. The EU countries agreed not to change the existing "Euro 6" test conditions and emissions limits for cars and vans, although they will be lower for buses and heavy vehicles. They also accepted new particle emissions limits for brakes and tyres.

Persons: Phil Noble, Hernández, Adolfo Urso, Roberto Vavassori, Sudip Kar, Alvise Armellini, Giulio Piovaccari, Philip Blenkinsop, Hugh Lawson, Barbara Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Union, European Union, of, The, European Commission, EU, Italian Industry, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Thomson Locations: Manchester, Britain, Rights BRUSSELS, France, Italy, Czech Republic, Spain

The "Made in Italy" fund, which was approved in May, will have an initial endowment of 700 million euros ($756 million) in 2023 and an additional 300 million next year in state cash. Saudi Arabia will focus on energy, sustainability, supply chains and sport to expand its presence in Italy, Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said at the same event. Italian exports to Saudi Arabia totalled just over 4 billion euros in 2022, much from manufacturing, while imports totalled more than 7.4 billion euros, the bulk from oil products. Also at the Milan event, leading Italian energy company Eni (ENI.MI) and Saudi Acwa Power (2082.SE) agreed to jointly develop a green hydrogen project in the Middle East and Africa. Saudi Arabia has a well advanced project dubbed NEOM to produce green hydrogen at home while Italy so far has not developed yet any plan to produce it in significant quantity.

Persons: Adolfo Urso, Giorgia Meloni, Meloni, shrugging, Urso, Khalid al, Falih, Power, De Nora, Giuseppe Fonte, Keith Weir, Angus MacSwan, Alexander Smith Organizations: Energy, Italy's Industry, Reuters, Italy's, Investment, European Union, EU, Saudi, Eni, Saudi Acwa, Thomson Locations: Italy, MILAN, Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Rome, Riyadh, Milan, Kingdom, Meloni, East, North Africa, Russia, Africa

☆ Italian bank shares slide after government surprises with windfall tax
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Italian banking shares took a beating on Tuesday morning after Italy's cabinet approved a 40% windfall tax on lenders' profits in 2023. As of around 9:45 a.m. in Rome, BPER Banca shares had plunged 8% and Intesa Sanpaolo was down 7%, while Banco BPM, UniCredit and Finecobank all dropped more than 6%. The one-off tax on extra profits will be equal to around 19% of banks' net profits for the year, analysts at Citi estimated based on currently available data. "We see this tax as substantially negative for banks given both the impact on capital and profit as well as for cost of equity of bank shares. Banks are required to pay the tax within six months after the end of the financial year.

Persons: Carlo Nordio, Adolfo Urso, Matteo Salvini, Francesco Lollobrigida, Orazio Schillaci, Palazzo Chigi, Sanpaolo, Salvini, Azzurra Guelfi, Banks Organizations: Enterprise, Transport, Agriculture, Health, Palazzo, Ministers, BPER Banca, Banco, European, Citi, Citi Equity Research, UCI Locations: Italy, Rome

☆ Italy's cabinet lines up measures to tackle taxi shortage
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

People go on board of a taxi at Termini central station in Rome, Italy, July 17, 2023. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/file photoROME, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Italy's government is set to issue more taxi licences as it moves to tackle a cab shortage that has irked tourists and residents across its biggest cities, a draft decree seen by Reuters showed on Friday. Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said in a statement the decree would pave the way to significant reform of the sector. Earlier this week, Italy's antitrust watchdog said it had started gathering information on the malfunctioning taxi services, stressing issues such as waiting times, acceptance of card payments and the correct use of taxi meters. Reporting by Elvira Pollina; writing by Angelo Amante Editing by Keith WeirOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Remo Casilli, Adolfo Urso, Urso, Elvira Pollina, Angelo Amante, Keith Weir Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Industry, Milan, Cortina, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy, London, Paris

☆ Italy scales back plans to control prices of essential goods
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Italy has scaled back its anti-inflation plans after producers refused to submit to a deal with supermarket chains to control prices of consumer staples, three people familiar with the talks said on Thursday. The accord was supposed to deliver a "decisive blow" to inflation, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said on Monday. But the people said on Thursday the government had not managed to get support from industry associations and so the supermarkets did not intend to endorse the plan. Seen by Reuters, the statement acknowledges that the industry associations have so far not been willing to sign off on any deal. Urso will chair a video call on Friday at 0730 GMT to ratify the joint declaration, one of the sources said.

Persons: Adolfo Urso, Urso, Giorgia Meloni, Giuseppe Fonte, Tomasz Janowski, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Industry, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Italy

☆ Stellantis wants Italy government support to hit million model mark
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Stellantis NV FollowMILAN, July 26 (Reuters) - Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said a production target of one million vehicles in Italy it is discussing with Rome was well within reach but it could not be a one-sided commitment and the government must support it. "We are not afraid of the one million mark," Tavares told reporters in a post-earnings roundtable. According to some forecasts its output in Italy will likely rise to over 800,000 units this year. Fiat Chrysler, which merged with France's PSA in early 2021 to create Stellantis, last produced over one million vehicles in Italy back in 2017. Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari Editing by Keith WeirOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Carlos Tavares, Rome, Tavares, Adolfo Urso, Alfa Romeo, Giulio Piovaccari, Keith Weir Organizations: Italy's Industry, Fiat, Alfa, Fiat Chrysler, France's PSA, Thomson Locations: Italy, Rome

☆ Stellantis to build new Jeep Compass as fifth model in Melfi
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, July 13 (Reuters) - Stellantis will build the new Jeep Compass, one of the carmaker's bestsellers in Europe, as the fifth model for its Melfi plant in southern Italy, two sources close to the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The new model will be a development from the Compass SUV the Franco-Italian group currently produces in Melfi, one of its main assembly sites in the country. The new Jeep Compass will join four other new models the carmaker had promised for Melfi but which it has not yet officially announced. The production of models in Melfi underpinned by the new Stellantis platform for medium-sized cars is expected to start during 2024. Stellantis currently also builds Jeep's Renegade and Fiat's 500X models in Melfi.

Persons: Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, Adolfo Urso, Melfi, Germany's, Italy's Lancia, Giulio Piovaccari, Gilles Guillaume, Keith Weir Organizations: MILAN, Jeep, Reuters, Compass, Jeep Compass, Germany's Opel, Thomson Locations: Europe, Melfi, Italy, Italian, Paris

The upcoming national strategic fund for "Made in Italy" products will have an initial endowment of 1 billion euros ($1.10 billion) in state cash, the statement said, adding it would also aim to boost procurement of "critical raw materials." A draft seen by Reuters showed that the new vehicle was also entitled to invest in domestic, listed firms not operating in the financial sector. The scheme will aim to raise at least an additional 500 million euros from private investors, according to the document. Run by the state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), the Patrimonio Rilancio fund was originally intended to provide some 40 billion euros of financing, but has so far invested just around 1 billion. Once the bill is approved by parliament, the government will issue a decree defining how the fund will work.

Persons: Rome, Giorgia Meloni, Adolfo Urso's, Italy's, Alison Williams, Deepa Babington Organizations: Reuters, United Arab, Industry, Patrimonio, InfraVia Capital Partners, Paris, Equity, Thomson Locations: ROME, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, Norway, France

☆ Italy is planning a sovereign fund amid a new era of national interest
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Italy is moving ahead with a sovereign fund to support critical parts of its economy, amid a wider push by several European nations to bring global supply chains closer to home. Italy's Minister of Enterprises Adolfo Urso announced Wednesday a public-private fund that looks at consolidating "national strategic supply chains" in the areas of raw materials and energy. The announcement comes after Ireland, another EU nation, said earlier this month that it intends to start a sovereign wealth fund next year. Italy established a wealth fund back in 2011 which has investments in energy, communications and aerospace sectors. When Covid-19 hit in early 2020, many European nations struggled to get their hands on masks and other protective equipment, which were manufactured in Asia.

Rome/London CNN —Italy’s government convened crisis talks Thursday to investigate the reasons behind a surge in prices for pasta, one of the country’s most beloved and culturally important foods. Pasta inflation moderated a bit in April but prices were still up 16.5% over 12 months. Pasta prices have soared despite the price of wheat — the main ingredient — falling in recent months. The price of durum wheat — a type of wheat popular among Italian pasta-makers — has fallen 30% since May 2022. Making pasta only requires mixing water with the wheat, the group said, giving “little justification” for the huge increase in retail prices.

☆ Italy is convening a crisis meeting this week to address soaring pasta prices, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Italy's industry minister has called a crisis meeting to address the soaring price of pasta, Reuters reported. Pasta prices jumped 16.3% in April, while broader Italian inflation came in at 8.8%. The comparable increase in Italy's harmonized index of consumer prices, a weighted average of Italian goods and services, measured a provisional 8.8% in April. But Coldiretti, an Italian agriculture group, said soaring pasta prices represented an "anomaly that needs clarification," given the price of a key ingredient, durum wheat, fell 30% in the year, per local publication Ansa. The National Consumer Union said until speculation on wheat prices was defined as an "unfair practice," the price of pasta may stay elevated, per Ansa.

☆ Italy calls crisis meeting over surging pasta prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, May 4 (Reuters) - Italy's Industry Minister Adolfo Urso called on Thursday for a crisis meeting over prices for pasta, the country's favourite staple, after they jumped by more than double the national inflation rate. Urso's ministry said the cost of spaghetti and other pasta products rose year-on-year by 17.5% in March despite a drop in wheat prices. In that month, Italian EU-harmonised consumer prices (HICP) rose overall by 8.1%. Italian inflation rose by even more in April to 8.8% year-on-year, driven by a fresh spike in energy prices, national statistics agency ISTAT said on Tuesday. 'Core' inflation, net of fresh food and energy, was stable at 6.8% year-on-year.

☆ Italy's government calls crisis meeting over surging pasta prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

☆ Italy to sign gas turbines contract with Azerbaijan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Italy is set to sign a new contract to sell four gas turbines to Azerbaijan, its industry minister said on Saturday ahead of his visit to the Asian country that is one of Rome's most important energy partners. The deal will involve Italy's Ansaldo Energia, a service provider for the power generation industry, and Azerenerji, the country's largest electrical power producer, minister Adolfo Urso said in a statement. The news comes after Italy last month signed a $8 billion gas production deal with Libya aimed at boosting energy supplies to Europe. Italy is working to double to 20 billion cubic meters the capacity of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which brings Azeri gas to Apulia in the southeast of the country. Rome sees a role for itself as a hub for gas supplies to northern Europe in the coming years to help offset the loss of imports from Russia.

Lufthansa declined to comment on Rome's decision to offer an initial minority stake. Some of Italy's politicians consider ITA as the heir to cultural icon Alitalia, which they want to preserve. Some also say that ITA does not have to worry so much about losing its national identity should Lufthansa take over. The Certares-led alliance was willing to pay 350 million euros for a 50% stake plus one share of the state-controlled airline, sources had said. ($1 = 0.9412 euros)Reporting by Angelo Amante in Rome and Joanna Plucinska in London; additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome.

ROME/PARIS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Italy's Vega rockets have been grounded and an investigation is under way after the latest model failed on its second mission, destroying two Earth-imaging satellites and further complicating Europe's access to space on top of the war in Ukraine. A spokesperson for Arianespace said both the Vega C and its Vega predecessor had been grounded pending the findings of an investigative commission co-chaired by technical officials from the European Space Agency and Arianespace itself. Italy's Vega C rocket is due to play an increasingly crucial role in Europe's access to space after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine forced Arianespace to stop using Russian Soyuz vehicles. But Arianespace has been forced to scrap plans to announce a Vega C launch schedule for 2023 in coming weeks. Analysts said only a few operational alternatives to Vega C exist, such as potential rideshares aboard U.S.-based SpaceX's bigger Falcon 9 or Firefly Aerospace's new Alpha launcher, which can loft roughly half the payload weight of Vega C.Other options, though somewhat larger than Vega C, include rockets from Japan and India.

The letter, seen by Reuters, is signed by the head of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the U.S. Treasury, and mentions a loan provided by some Italian banks and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP). The Italian government adopted on Thursday a scheme allowing ISAB to be placed under trusteeship, while Lukoil continues talks on selling the asset. A similar move was taken by Germany when in September it took control of a refinery owned by Rosneft (ROSN.MM). The government could call on "an oil company that operates in the sector, and it is obvious to everyone that this (company) could be Eni, and this will ensure continuity of production," he said. Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Alvise Armellini, Editing by Christina Fincher and Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Italy seeks U.S. help to unlock funding for Lukoil refinery, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The survival of the ISAB plant in Sicily is under threat due to a European embargo on seaborne Russian oil coming into effect on Dec. 5. ISAB has been forced to rely solely on Russian oil after creditor banks halted financing and stopped providing guarantees needed to buy oil from alternative suppliers. Its creditor banks have been wary of dealing with a Russian entity because Lukoil is affected by international sanctions in the United States, but not in Europe. So far, however, there has been no positive response to Italy's request, one of the sources said. A cabinet meeting on Thursday will also discuss steps aimed at helping the ISAB plant, one of the sources said.

☆ Italy seeks new options for TIM with network bid seen on hold
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The statement also reiterated that Rome was keen to secure control of TIM's network. A government source said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had put CDP's bid on hold. Marking a break with the past, Meloni on Friday entrusted the government's broadband strategy to Butti, who has openly criticised CDP's plans for TIM. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti this month said Butti's plans required extensive discussions within the government, which had "several options" to secure control of TIM's network. TIM, which is expected to hold a board meeting on Wednesday to discuss governance issues, had no immediate comment.

Such a plan met heavy reservations within Giorgia Meloni's new right-wing administration, which decided to put CDP's bid on hold on Monday night, two government officials told Reuters. TIM, which has been under pressure for years due to a hyper-competitive domestic market, had no immediate comment. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti this month said Butti's plans required extensive discussions within the government, which had "several options" to secure control of TIM's network. Butti, who has openly criticised CDP's plans for TIM, has called on the Treasury-owned lender to take over TIM in full to then sell its service operations, including its Brazil-listed unit. TIM is expected to hold a board meeting on Wednesday to discuss the appointment of a director to replace Renault boss Luca de Meo.

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