From the Prime Minister of Italy in Taranto required to close ILVA steel plant
Giuseppe Conte faced with protests by environmental activists and residents of Taranto, demanded from the Prime Minister of Italy the immediate closure of the metallurgical plant ILVA. The Prime Minister arrived at the factory ArcelorMittal to find a solution that will help save about 10 thousand jobs in a depressed region.
Earlier it was reported that the ruling coalition of Italy has deprived of legal protection of assets and management of the plant ILVA from prosecution for environmental violations. In response to this, the current owner of the company ArcelorMittal stated that he is not prepared to continue to work under threat of arrest and prosecution and refuses the transaction on purchase of assets from the Italian government.
"Close! Close! Freedom of Taranto!" chanted hundreds of activists letting Conte go to the factory on Friday. "We demand to close the plant," - said the Prime Minister Raffaele Cataldi, a representative Committee of citizens. "We want to close the sources of pollution and re-employ workers on land reclamation".
labor Unions in Taranto staged a one-day strike on Friday in protest against the crisis.
They accused the government that it has granted ArcelorMittal a pretext to get rid of the problem plant.
Conte this week promised to restore the immune system, if it will convince ArcelorMittal to stay, but his coalition is split, which suggests that it might even fall apart on this issue.
the Ruling movement "5 stars" demanded the closure of the plant in Taranto in anticipation of last year's national elections. Eventually, the deputies were forced to agree to a deal with ArcelorMittal, but many condemned a legal shield, saying that it deprived the inhabitants affected by contamination, legal redress.
Experts say that environmental regulations were ignored on the Playground decades, resulting in Taranto were exposed to toxic pollutants. In one report, compiled by a group of physicians, says that in the period from 2005 to 2012, more than 3,000 deaths have been directly linked to pollution. Local residents say that since then have been hundreds of deaths due to environmental reasons.
Moody's confirmed on Friday, ArcelorMittal's rating of Baa3, but changed the Outlook from "stable" to "negative". In the review, as stated in the note, "reflected the rapid decline in profit this year in the context of falling demand from end-market deterioration and the prevalence of steel". "Further downward pressure" on the rating may come "because of the inability to perform without friction and in a timely manner, the proposed purchase of ILVA".