From former prime minister Enrico Letta (and above all by two of his collaborators), passing through the former minister Paolo Costa, here are all the connections between the Benettons and the world of the Italian left
Of Francesco Curridori
Between the “controlled” and the “controller” there are a series of revolving doors through which former politicians move very nonchalantly from the public to the private sector, as demonstrated by the Atlantia case-Benetton.
The most famous case, Claudio Antonelli from La Verità explains in a long article, it is that of the former prime minister Enrico Letta That, after being crippled by Renzi, In the 2015 he became a professor at the Paris School of International Affairs. But not only that. Also in that year he was appointed member of the board of directors Abertis, Spanish giant intertwined with Atlantia which owns the majority of Autostrade per l'Italia. And it is precisely the Benetton company that started a takeover bid to acquire Abertis last summer, together with the German ACS. In this regard Enrico Letta, Yesterday, he replied in the newspaper edited by Maurizio Belpietro, having joined the Abertis board of directors “at the end of 2016 when this was a Spanish company, and before the hypothesis of a takeover bid on the Italian side was raised". “From Abertis – you need the former premier – I went out, voluntarily resigning, and giving public notice last May, exactly when ownership changed with the entry of Atlantia”. A choice made "precisely to avoid possible conflicts of interest with my previous functions as much as possible".
A former collaborator of his, Simonetta Giordani, Instead, In the 2006 he worked for Autostrade per l'Italia e, at the same time, he dealt with various think tanks including that of Enrico Letta. Once he became prime minister, the then deputy secretary of the Democratic Party appointed Giordani as undersecretary of cultural heritage. A position that she was forced to leave after the arrival of Matteo Renzi. He then goes to the FS as a councilor and, Then, returns to Atlantia, where she is entrusted with the management of institutional affairs. Another Lettian is Roberto Garofoli who has a past in Anas, as a magistrate, he has repeatedly dealt with arbitration panels for the road and motorway network. After being general secretary of Palazzo Chigi, today he is head of cabinet of Minister Giovanni Tria who confirmed the position received from his predecessor, Pier Carlo Padoan.
But there is a much more prestigious name than that, throughout his career, he shuttled between Palazzo Chigi and the Benetton companies. We're talking about the Prodian Paolo Costa, Minister of Public Works between '97 and '98 and of Infrastructure in 2006, as well as mayor of Venice since 2000 al 2005. As Minister of Public Works he laid the foundations for the privatization of the motorway network and for the subsequent concession method. Thus we arrive at 2010 when the Benettons want him as president of the board of directors of Spea Engineering, a subsidiary of Motorways for Italy. Two years ago, In the end, the Atlantia group, That, as well as Autostrade, controls the Aeroporti di Roma company (that of Fiumicino and Ciampino), wins the tender for the privatization of Nice airport and two other small regional airports that deal with Nice airports, Cannes-Mandelieu and Saint-Tropez. And whoever chooses to sit on the airport supervisory board is the Benettons? Always Costa, as an expert in the sector, naturally.
Source: http://m.ilgiornale.it/news/2018/08/18/tutti-i-link-tra-i-benetton-e-la-sinistra/1566072/