The Italian government is "studying" the nationalization of Autostrade per l'Italia, which managed the collapsed Morandi bridge in the northern Italian city of Genoa, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Monday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th August, 2018) The Italian government is "studying" the nationalization of Autostrade per l'Italia, which managed the collapsed Morandi bridge in the northern Italian city of Genoa, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Monday.
On August 14, a section of the bridge collapsed, leaving over 40 people dead, according to the latest figures. On the following day, Italian Minister of Economic Development, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, placed all the responsibility for the bridge collapse on Autostrade per l'Italia, which manages and maintains most of Italy's toll roads. The company was given 15 days to restore the bridge.
"We are studying and working, we certainly won't give out the presents that some gave in the past, when some signed measures that allowed private companies to earn billions and made Italians pay billions," Salvini said, as quoted by the Italian ANSA news agency.
ANSA reported that the government was aiming at revoking the license of Autostrade per l'Italia, controlled by local holding company Atlantia S.p.A.
Autostrade per l'Italia announced earlier in the day that it would lift toll payments across Genoa's highways "for the foreseeable future."
According to media reports, the company is going to invest around 500 million Euros ($572 million) in Genoa in order to contribute to the city's recovery.
