We will still have to wait for the appointments of the boards of directors of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and of state Railways. Surprisingly, everything slipped. “The CDP shareholders’ meeting has postponed the decision on the appointment of the new board of directors to 27 June 2024,” we read in a statement.
All doubts seemed to have been resolved, especially regarding CDP, but well-informed sources report a clash at Palazzo Chigi between representatives of the League and the Brothers of Italy.
Appointments blocked in CDP, the reasons
For Cdp, although there seems to be no doubt about the names, that is Dario Scannapieco as CEO and Giovanni Gorno Tempini as president, appointments are at a standstill.
The reason for this stalemate is the lack of uniformity of views between the League and Forza Italia on which of the two general directors of the Treasury should join the board of directors of CDP. The general direction of the Treasury has recently split into two: on one side there is Riccardo Barbieri Hermitte, who was appointed at the beginning of 2023 in the context of the spoils system involving Alessandro Rivera. Subsequently, Minister Giorgetti established a second general directorate with responsibility for Treasury holdings, entrusting it to Marcello Sala.
Cdp, however, is a particular investee that also addresses issues related to public debt and postal savings, making both general managers eligible to be part of the board of directors. Giorgetti seems to prefer Sala, while from Palazzo Chigi they seem to be oriented towards Barbieri Hermitte. The situation is complicated to resolve, especially considering that the League has already given in regarding the name of Scannapieco, supported by Palazzo Chigi but not supported by Giorgetti and Salvini.
There deadline has been postponed to June 27th, same day as the Railways meeting. The majority forces therefore take another week to establish the details of a puzzle, which however is well underway.
Three-way race for Ferrovie dello Stato
And blocking the appointment of CDP also stops those of state Railways; here too it was decided to take an extra week, considering that the positions within the government parties are still being defined. There are some uncertainties regarding the appointment of Stefano Donnarumma to the operational leadership of FS, especially after last year he was excluded from all the appointments of large state bodies. This time, Donnarumma should be able to obtain the support of both Salvini and Giorgia Meloni, with the intention of leaving the presidency to a member of the Brothers of Italy, perhaps Tommaso Tanzilli, former member of the board of directors of Fs.
Initially, Meloni had considered moving Biagio Mazzotta, the current State Accountant General, to the presidency, but the latter opposed this choice, supported by Giorgetti. Another possible candidate for the presidency of the FS could be Gianfranco Battisti, representative of Forza Italia, but at the moment the decision has not been made.
Furthermore, there is also the question of the presidency of Fincantieri to be resolved, left vacant by General Graziano, with some rumors indicating Francesco Talò, former ambassador and diplomatic advisor to Palazzo Chigi, as a possible candidate.
Almost everything done in Rai, who will be the future director
An agreement appears to have been reached for the management of Raiwhere the presidency would be assigned to Forza Italia with Simona Agnes, while the CEO would be Giampaolo Rossi, representative of Fratelli d’Italia.
However, the appointment dossier does not end with the top management of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Ferrovie dello Stato and Rai. In the coming weeks, the government parties will also have to find an agreement for the renewal of the corporate bodies of the Electricity Services Manager, Invimit, Fintecna, Open Fiber and Anas.
