Italy’s PM says many details still missing in accord with Atlantia-paper

MILAN (Reuters) – Many details are still missing in a deal between Italy’s government and Atlantia to end a long-standing dispute over the infrastructure group’s motorway concession, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a newspaper interview.

“We’re working non-stop, even in the last few days, a lot of details still need to be hammered out,” Conte told La Stampa on Friday, adding that the government was close to finalising the accord.

He said that work was ongoing to review both the terms of the concession agreement and the ownership structure of Atlantia’s motorway unit Autostrade per l’Italia, adding it was important that both companies stood by all the commitments outlined in a July 14 letter.

Italy has been threatening to revoke Autostrade’s motorway contract since a bridge operated by the company collapsed in August 2018 killing 43 people.

Conte ruled out that the deal could prevent the government from launching legal action against the group in the future were acts of serious negligence come to light.

(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Giulia Segreti)