Highways, 20 billion are needed. Divergent ideas on the future between Salvini and Meloni
A very delicate game is being played in the government, even if up to now it hasn't exploded in broad daylight. The game in question is on the highways. Il Fatto Quotidiano writes about it today, according to which Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Salvini have different perspectives on the future of Italian motorway infrastructure. The big problem is that “more than 20 billion are needed to cover the real investment needs of the Italian network, burdened by over thirty years of private management without control, money that the dealers do not want to put in, reducing their margins”.
Expenses could also increase, given that the new guidelines launched after the collapse of the Morandi bridge, which require heavy renovations of the works of art. “A large part of the Italian network is at the end of its life: it must be extended or redone. To this we must add investments to strengthen the network, which the concessionaires believe is close to saturation in many places”, explains Il Fatto Quotidiano.
What are the views in government? According to Il Fatto, Salvini likes the following idea: “the missing funds for investments are provided by the Statecollecting the remuneration from the tariffs over a period of time that can exceed the duration of the concessions, without thus having to make the tolls skyrocket”. Therefore, “the hypothesis sponsored by the minister is that then the future, the State will collect the tolls, passing on a fee to the concessionaires for managing the routes. They will be left with investments and maintenance, remunerated by a portion of the tolls calculated on the infrastructure”.
The idea of Palazzo Chigi: Aspi-Gavio merger and separation of the streets of Anas
In this way, Il Fatto explains, the State could manage the flows of the network, guaranteeing more homogeneous tariffs at a national level. The idea does not convince Palazzo Chigi because it would force them not to touch the concessions and to provide compensation to the operators, while the prime minister would be cultivating “the idea of a maxi-merger between Aspi and Gavio, second operator with 1,400 km of routes managed, which however is not doing well”.
Even more so since, as Repubblica writes, the reorganization of the road networks would be at the starting line.” The first step is contained in the draft decree, prepared by the Ministry of Transport, which provides for the establishment of an entirely public new company to be entrusted with the management of the state toll motorways which are currently controlled by Anas”writes the newspaper.
According to Repubblica, Anas “will remain in direct management of 1,300 km of toll-free motorways and connections, including the Salerno-Reggio Calabria and the Rome GRA”, while the newco, which will take the name of Autostrade dello Stato spa, ” will have the Ministry of Economy as its sole shareholder, will be classified as in-house and will also be able to build new state highways under concession“. From the beginning, the approximately 200 km of toll that Anas manages through investee companies such as the Frejus Tunnel, Venetian Motorway Concessions and the Mont Blanc Tunnel would flow into it.
#Highways #war #government #funding #moving #spinoff #Anas
