“The lack of approval of the amendments to the Dl Infrastrutture relating to the reinforcement and extension of the facilitation measures provided by art.199 of the DL Rilancio 2020 (the Italian Relaunch decree law – Translator’s note), risks damaging a sector already put to the test by the previous criticalities during the pandemic.”
The president of the North Tyrrhenian Port Network Authority, Luciano Guerrieri, expresses great concern about the Government’s refusal to grant more breathing space to operators and companies in the sector.
“We are not yet fully out of the tunnel of the pandemic crisis – said the president of the ports of Livorno and Piombino – “many port companies are still having to deal with a competitiveness deficit and a significant loss in revenues due to the difficult economic scenario at global market level, especially in certain traffic sectors which are highly important for our ports.”
According to Mr. Guerrieri extending the measures supporting port operators throughout 2022 is justified by the need to contrast a period of hardship, in order for companies to become gradually increasingly efficient and for workers’ professional dignity to be recognized.
“We had written to Assoporti (the Italian port association – Translator’s note) asking them to intervene on our behalf with the Government to allow the reduction in concession fees for our companies to be granted for 2022 too. Unfortunately, despite the Italian port association’s commitment, so far the Government’s response been completely negative” Mr Guerrieri said.
“At this point” – he concluded – “we trust that the Ministry of Economy and Finance will reintroduce these measures. The support that some parliamentary groups have shown and are continuing to show is precious in furthering our cause. To achieve our objective it is essential for us to have the support of all those who have safeguarding port companies and their workers at heart.”
Translation by Giles Foster
