Crt Foundation, money to the vineyards of Alessandria, Roman banks and a statute that gives more weight to the provinces. Palenzona and Turin, a feeling never born

They tell of a mayor Stefano Lo Russo who was radiant yesterday, but usually darkens when the events of the Crt Foundation are mentioned, upon learning of the sudden and unexpected resignation of Fabrizio Palenzona. At the Valentino Castle, at the Conference of Scientific and Space Workers, for the first time the mayor was able to present “his president” in public, the former rector of the Polytechnic Marco Gilli appointed a few days ago at the top of Compagnia di San Paolo, the other large Turin foundation, upon nomination and choice of the Municipality of Turin. A game won, despite the many criticisms and consortiums against yet another former rector of the foundation, and diametrically opposed to the Crt affair, where Lo Russo’s (Andrea Ganelli) proposal crashed into a council divided in the fight between Quaglia and Palenzona.

Lo Russo’s smile, while Cirio did not betray any particular emotions, was like a liberation for a cumbersome guest like Palenzona who, although he had exerted influence on Via XX Settembre for 25 years, had never found a feeling with the city in his new role as president.
Moreover, Palenzona’s seizure of power in the Foundation, almost a quarrelsome takeover bid by stock market raiders, a takeover bid that is ill-suited to a philanthropic body, had generated quite a few comments and whispers about the emptiness of politics. And many pointed the finger at Lo Russo. Then the sudden change of the Statute, in defiance of the sensitivity of the territory, which increased with the stroke of a pen the weight of the Piedmontese provinces in the council (from 18 to 22 councillors) to the detriment of Turin, precipitated any hypothesis of agreement or at least good neighbourhood. The continuous gaffes of the secretary Andrea Varese, at a conference on corporate sustainability, the former Unicredit manager declared that he did not believe in green investments, on culture: «but why do we give money to theatres? If they don’t sell tickets they may as well close”; investments in Banca del Fucino in Rome and in Alessandria wine (20 million) have made relations increasingly tense. So much so that the mayor actually avoided having any.

Also because in the end the very trusty Roberto Mercuri, the talked about factotum of Palenzona from the time of the Unicredit vice-presidency, governed the foundation but did not have a formal role in Crt except wanting to boss everyone around even in the Board of Directors.
In the corridors of the Foundation it is said that Varese himself did not even choose the color of the Christmas greeting cards without the green light from Mercuri. Now with the “old lion” Palenzona retreating from the scene, previously sunk in the archenemy’s Acre Giuseppe Guzzetti (who is the father of the former banking foundations), who emerged scorned from the struggles in Unicredit and then even dumped by the Ministry of Economy which, despite solid friendships with the undersecretary Giovanbattista Fazzolari and Matteo Salvini, will not investigate the “hidden pact” of the councilors , Turin can try to take back the Crt Foundation.

Among the new councilors the moment is experienced with confusion and embarrassment. Among the ten confirmed directors, however, there is almost relief for a “top-down” management of the non-profit organization, and a president who is too far away, engaged in a thousand battlefields (Prelios, Unicredit, Generali) but absent in the area. He says that now there are “all the conditions to restart” Giampiero Leo, guidance counselor reconfirmed in a group in which Palenzona would have wanted the appointment of Alessandra Siviero and Fratelli d’Italia instead Annalisa Genta. «The hope is that the storm will end here. In recent days a group of councilors has become very united, among other things who well represent the Catholic world, which wants the good of the foundation and the territory. Palenzona must be acknowledged for having demonstrated great generosity and a sense of responsibility.”

On the councilors left out of the group, such as the excellent name of the former governor Enzo Ghigo, Leo is keen to keep the doors open. “We can soon catch up with those high profiles who were left out.” Many are now waiting for a signal from the institutions, Lo Russo and the president of the Region Alberto Cirio. The nomination could be made as early as May 7th.