Investment continuity and economic stability: the North Tyrrhenian Port Network Authority closes 2022 with its accounts in order, bringing a substantially positive year to an end.
In a nutshell, this is what emerges, from the annual report and final balance sheet the Management Committee approved this morning.
Administrative manager Simone Gagliani presented the figures, explaining how the Authority had had to face the challenges of the soaring costs of materials, which rose by over 40% in one year.
Although the increasingly high cost of materials has slowed down the activities planned, delaying the implementation of certain projects, the organization has nevertheless managed to put a substantial infrastructure program in place.
After a record-breaking 2021 – when 436 million euros had been allocated for the modernization of its network ports – the Port Network Authority committed 52.6 million euros in 2022, almost 40 million of which disbursed through the European Investment Bank (EIB) loan and allotted in part to the construction of the Darsena Europa seaward expansion facility (34 million euros) and the doubling of the MK pulp warehouse at the root of the Alto Fondale (4.4 million euros).
In 2022 the Port Network Authority also made numerous commitments, using its own resources, for the construction and/or design of various types of initiative, including 680,000 euros for the approval of the executive dredging work project to bring the depth of Livorno port’s harbour access channel back to -13 m; half a million euros for repairing the cliffside along the first stretch of the Quagliodromo coastal road (in Piombino) with natural boulders; 267 thousand euros for dredging the access channel to the port of Livorno; and 143 thousand euros for the final project for redeveloping the salt warehouse building complex in the port of Portoferraio.
Also worth mentioning are the funds allocated for improving port safety. During the year, one million euros were invested in key interventions, such as the implementation of safety measures in the area where the new Darsena Europa infrastructure is located and the supply and installation of ladders on Livorno’s public berths.
Current revenue totaled 45 million euros, up 8.2% on 2021. During the year, the Port Network Authority collected 22.7 million euros in port and anchorage fees; almost 2 million euros more than the previous year.
The 2022 surplus totals 148 million euros; 40 million have been set aside for the construction of Darsena Europa and 72 million have been put in the 2023 budget to cover the financing of the interventions planned.
Through its Annual Report the Port Network Authority reviewed what it had accomplished during the year. The most important results included the major commitment to environmental and energy sustainability (with the completion of the final project for cold ironing facilities in the ports of Livorno, Piombino and Portoferraio) and regulatory activities to streamline administrative procedures for authorizations to carry out port operations and services (not least, the new Regulation on the deployment of personnel working for companies under Articles 16 and 17).
The report also highlights how in 2022 the Port Network Authority continued to meet the needs of the port’s commercial sector, which had suffered a marked drop in productivity during the pandemic crisis. The Authority’s initiatives to support the port cluster included using about one million euros of its own funds to help port enterprises, in accordance with the provisions of art. 199, paragraph 1, lett. b, of the Relaunch Decree, which had been extended to 2022.
“The final balance sheet and annual report that have just been approved show our Port Network is in good health and able to respond proactively to the new challenges triggered by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,” said the president of the North Tyrrhenian Port Network Authority, Luciano Guerrieri.
“With passenger, new car and forest product traffic registering steady growth and freight tonnage holding up, 2022 marked a substantial emergence from the two-year pandemic crisis for the ports under the Port Network Authority’s jurisdiction,” he added.
“But it was also a year in which the Port Authority did major project design and planning work. Like others, it had to face the difficulties posed by materials getting much more expensive. However, we are confident that costs will stabilize in 2023. We hope, in fact, that the next regional price list for public works will allow us to gradually get back to normal” he concluded.
CILP concession
During the meeting, the Management Committee also approved allocating Compagnia Impresa Lavoratori Portuali (CILP) an area of over 16,000 square metres, 7,800m of which behind Calata Pisa and 8,290m on via Tiziano, for managing Grimaldi company’s ro-ro traffic.
The areas are close to the state-owned ones already in concession to the company at Calata Alto Fondale and Dock Etruschi. They will allow CILP to adequately operate Ro/Ro traffic, at least until its relocation to the east side of Darsena Toscana is terminated, where, once the work on the quay has been completed, the company will carry out all its ro-ro traffic operations.
Translation by Giles Foster
