Article by Paolo Barnard.

The complicity between Romano Prodi and Carlo De Benedetti began in July 1982, when Prodi was appointed president of IRI, the largest economic body in the state, in the house of his historian Carlo De Benedetti (owner of the Repubblica and Espresso group and of other 30 magazines / newspapers / weeklies / monthlies throughout Italy), in the case of Repubblica even De Benedetti is the only columnist, so he even writes the articles himself (think a little objectivity)!

Prodi's activity from 1982 to 2007 was mainly concentrated in a single task:

Sell out (or give away) all public bodies of the state to its ally Carlo De Benedetti at a ridiculously low price with rigged notices.

De Benedetti, for his part, he then promptly rushed to immediately resell these companies at their real market value (usually 20 times their purchase price) to foreign groups (or even to the State itself, which was buying them back at crazy prices) , making incalculable profits to the detriment of the Italians.

DE BENEDETTI E ROMANO PRODI, OVVERO: COME FARE UNA MONTAGNA DI SOLDI A SPESE DELLO STATOProdi, for 7 years he led the State IRI, among other things granting billionaire assignments to his consultancy firm “Nomisma”, with an evident conflict of interest. At the end of these 7 years the assets of the IRI were halved due to the sale of important groups such as Alfa Romeo And FIAT, from which he took large sums of money in bribes for Nomisma, going from 3,959 to 2,102 billion. Ford had offered 2,000 billion in cash for Alfa Romeo, but Prodi gave it to FIAT for only 1,000 billion in installments. In the meantime, he divided up 170 appointments, of which 93 diessini.

The privatizations of IRI made by Romano Prodi were real sales of the Italian economic assets to private groups of the Left (De Benedetti, Coop Rosse) accomplices of the professor, even if "selling off" a public body at a tenth of its value when there are other private groups that offer double, more than a "sale" it is a gift, or to be even more precise it is an incredible series of colossal thefts against the state and the Italians perpetrated with impunity for years.

Playing on the words and on the interpretation of the body's statute, Romano Prodi boasted unlikely profits (12 billion and 400 million in 1985). The Court of Auditors, the supervisory magistracy, brought to light the enormous false accounting of Prodi: "The overall operating result of the IRI Institute for 1985, to which ... both the balance of the profit and loss account and the profits and losses of a financial nature correspond to a loss of 980.2 billion, which is compared to that of 2.737 billion recorded in 1984 ». Furthermore, the Court reported that net losses in 1985 amounted to 1,203 billion compared to 2,347 billion in 1984.

Romano Prodi, in front of the crowds of his fans still boasts a lot that during his 7 years at the presidency of the IRI he managed to earn stratospheric profits. The truth, as clarified by the Court of Auditors, is that instead of stratospheric profits I realize stratospheric losses, giving the assets of the State and the Italians to his friends on the Left.

Prodi was unscathed from the trials because the companies were private-law SPAs and therefore the managers were not qualified as public officials. Mani Pulite will also change this, so that the companies controlled by public bodies would all be considered operating in the public interest, with the relative consequences for the directors.

The confirmation of all this is found in the indebtedness of the Institute, which increased from 1982 to 1989 from 7,349 to 20,873 billion (+184 per cent), and that of the IRI group from 34,948 to 45,672 (+30 per cent). Stratospheric losses in fact.

D'Alema himself, interviewed by Biagi on television, stated that Romano Prodi, chosen by him to lead the coalition against Berlusconi, was a "competent man" because when he left IRI in 1989 the budget gave "more 981 billion" . It was easy to refute these statements, pointing out that the real figure, taking into account the iron and steel losses transited only in the balance sheet, was "less" 2,416 billion. The real hole was never contested by those directly involved.

Romano Prodi's real skill has always been to be able to take money from the state at no cost. The confirmation comes from an article by Paolo Cirino Pomicino, in which he notes that of the 28,500 billion disbursed by the state as an endowment fund from the date of birth of the IRI, Romano Prodi obtained 17,500!

In 1986, Romano Prodi, with a contract of just 4 pages (instead of hundreds as is normally done) by private negotiation, sold off the largest food group in the state, SME, to the Buitoni of his friend Carlo De Benedetti for only 393 billion. SME already had more than 600 billion in cash in its coffers, but its global value was 3.1 trillion. Prodi and De Benedetti were wronged in the first instance, in the Court of Appeal and in the Cassation by as many as 15 magistrates, unanimously.

The magistrate Saverio Borrelli of the Mani Pulite pool in Milan, 6 years later, will instead indict criminally Silvio Berlusconi, for having prevented (together with Ferrero And Barilla with a public purchase offer enormously higher than that of De Benedetti) yet another sale by Romano Prodi: the EMS (a gift of 3100 billion from the State) to Carlo De Benedetti, despite the fact that these two cronies had been wronged in all 3 levels of judgment by the Court of Rome and by the TAR Lazio and despite the fact that Berlusconi and the other entrepreneurs had not earned anything in the end.

As president of IRI, he also sold out Italgel to Unilever, being at the same time a consultant to the latter, despite therefore an evident conflict of interest.

If IRI was, as it really was, a haunt of corruption without limits it would have been right to arrest and try Prodi, who presided over it for 7 years and not just those who (Nobile) did it for only 17 months.

During Tangentopoli, Pietro's was about to arrest Prodi, but he went straight to cry (in the true sense of the word) from Mancuso and by the President of the Republic Scalfaro, who, as president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, managed not to have him indicted. All in one day.

During his government in 1996 he gave away 5,000 billion to Fiat to do a scrapping.
During bankruptcies Parmalat And Cirio, Prodi defended the bankers who cheated the savers and they returned the favor with their lined up newspapers.

PMs should use the same yardstick, the same zeal both with Fiorani than with Consort; or, at least, always or never believe him on Fiorani himself. Even when it says, e Boni confirms, having given 750 thousand euros Palenzona (Mtorgherita), which are 15 times more than what was given (and rejected) by the Northern League Giorgetti. Even if the Courier on Giorgetti he made a title 15 times more striking than that for Palenzona.

The Infostrada affair

In 1997, the Prodi government sells off Infostrada (of the State) to De Benedetti for 700 billion lire, to be paid in installments over 14 years. De Benedetti immediately sells it (after having paid only the first installment) to the German Mannesman for 14,000 billion (20 times the purchase price!). Not enough, the Italian state in 2001, when there was still the center-left government, REQUIRES Infostrada from the German Mannesman to 21,300 billion lire. With the "privatization" of Infostada made by Prodi, the State paid out 21,300 billion lire, which ended up in the pockets of 14,000 De Benedetti and 14,000 in the coffers of the Mannesman, in Germany.
De Benedetti And Mannesman they had a shady deal: De Benedetti gets Infostrada from Prodi as a gift, Mannesman buys it at its real market value and then sells it twice as much (for 14,000 billion lire) to the state, thanks to a left-wing government.
The Infostrada manager, Lorenzo Necci, he tried to oppose this huge thievery against the state, but was immediately indicted, jailed, disgraced by the newspapers of the Left (most of which owned by De Benedetti and even written by him!) and then, obviously, acquitted. This is what usually happens to those who put a spoke in the wheels of De Benedetti.

The Telecom Italia affair

In 1997, again Prodi, in government, sells off the Telecom Italia shares at the usual derisory price (so much so that immediately after their market value increases by 6 times), collecting 22,800 billion lire (Telecom was worth enormously more). With this same money, then, the center-left government will buy back Infostrada with the excuse that the telecommunications infrastructure must belong to the state. Practically the state gave away a giant like Telecom, at the same price as a dwarf company like Infostrada. Nice exchange!
Telecom president was (and is now) Guido Rossi, the lawyer of De Benedetti (a little his Previti).
Meanwhile the government arrives D'Alema, we are in 1999, and Roberto Colaninno, through theOlivetti by De Benedetti, gives the takeover to Telecom. Once again there were shady irregularities to keep the price low, but Consob (the authority that must supervise these crimes) was chaired by Spaventa, a friend of De Benedetti, so he closed both eyes on the deal.
Colaninno, through a series of ghost companies based at Cayman Islands (well-known tax haven) comes to control Telecom with just 0.3% of shares. The Financial Times he called the climb "a robbery in broad daylight".

The Telecom was sold off Seat-Pagine Gialle (which was part of it) to a company called "Otto" (of the son of Armando Cossutta, that of the Italian Communists, who always boasts of living like an average Italian) for 1955 billion and resold, together with Colaninno, for 16,000 billion ( 8 times as much, apparently they enjoy teasing us: that's why they called her Otto!).
The companies that should have paid us their taxes disappear into the usual tax havens in the Caymans.
In 2000, as usually happens in the best robberies when accomplices fight, Colaninno and De Benedetti fight over the swag, and Colaninno is massacred by Repubblica, Espresso and the other 30 De Benedetti newspapers. In 2001, De Benedetti joined forces with Marco Tronchetti Provera, who wrested control of Telecom from Colaninno, buying the controlling stake in Olivetti. But when Tronchetti Provera arrives in the saddle of Telecom, he realizes that he has been screwed: 25,000 billion lire are missing from the coffers.
Telecom Italia is now a company with up to its neck debts, it has now been milked and re-milked to the bone and the same billions that appeared in the financial statements are actually hot air: the only possibility to save oneself is to resell the whole hut to the State.

In April 2006, Romano Prodi takes over the government, who makes the usual under-the-counter agreement with Tronchetti Provera (and his partner De Benedetti) for the REPURCHASE of Telecom (as happened for Infostrada), but this time something is wrong.
The two allied sharks, De Benedetti and Tronchetti Provera, begin to fight over who should have the biggest slice, so, as usual, Espresso and Repubblica begin to muddy Tronchetti Provera for months.
Prodi obviously has to choose which side to take and chooses the most reassuring De Benedetti (he doesn't want to end up like all those who turn against Repubblica and Espresso!). At that point Provera ankle boots publishes Prodi's secret project on the repurchase of the Telecom and the scandal breaks out that indignates the newspapers around the world, even if soon silenced in Italy by the De Benedetti newspapers, which cause the scandal of wiretapping against Tronchetti Provera.

At that point Prodi saves himself in the eyes of public opinion with the usual joke of "I knew nothing about it", the fault lies entirely with my collaborator Rovati (a lifelong friend of Prodi, they even live in the same building), which they promptly follow resignation.
The foreign press goes so far as to say: what kind of country is Italy? after such a thing not only does Prodi not resign, but does a judicial investigation not even open?
Rovati, calm the waters, has already taken his place next to Prodi.

The Alitalia affair

In January 2007, the Prodi government begins the sale of Alitalia. Among the competitors there is a consortium formed by De Benedetti (could he be missing?) And the Goldman Sachs bank, a crucial player in almost all Italian privatizations. Prodi has worked for years for Goldman Sachs, which has always covered him with gold for his invaluable "consultancy" (and I believe it!). Until a few months ago practically all of Prodi's friends and collaborators worked at Goldman: Mario Draghi (deputy director of Goldman Sachs, and currently governor of the Bank of Italy) and Mario Monti (current deputy director). Claudio Costamagna, president of Goldman Sachs, is the one who paid for Prodi's entire electoral campaign in the 2006 elections. In exchange, Prodi will shortly appoint him general manager of the Treasury. Also for Goldman Sachs, until yesterday Massimo Tononi was director, now undersecretary of the Prodi government. No doubt about it, we are in good hands! Given that the entire Goldman Sachs summit is now in the government, it is all too evident that the Prodi-Rovati secret Telecom purchase plan was actually a Goldman Sachs plan.

The script is still the same as for the last 25 years and for all other privatizations. As always, De Benedetti will win the tender (created ad hoc for him by his friends who occupy all the top management of the state and Goldman Sachs) at a ridiculously low price, and then immediately resell everything to a foreign group (probably Air France) to a price 10-20 times higher.

Why is the notice rigged? Simple: because while selling off the 30% of the shares, the State will hold special shares, the Golden Shares, with which it will exercise control of Alitalia. Now, no company or entrepreneur can be so crazy as to buy a company in full crisis and moreover without having full control over its management. Nobody, except those, has always kept the government on a leash. Immediately after De Benedetti gets his hands on Alitalia's assets, two things may happen, as per the proven script: 1) or the Prodi government will hasten to remove the constraints so that De Benedetti can freely resell Alitalia to the highest bidder foreigner realizing immense gains, or 2) if this first path is not feasible, the State will promptly offer to RE-BUY the shares sold off, paying astronomical amounts. And if some inexperienced manager of Alitalia had something to complain about, he will end up like poor Lorenzo Necci (mentioned above).

Conclusions

Eng. Carlo De Benedetti, with the complicity of Romano Prodi, plundered the public money of the Italian state and gave the wealth of Italians, practically all the main public bodies, to foreign private groups, causing incalculable damage to Italians.

But despite these faults, he controls the printed information with more than 30, including national and local newspapers, weeklies, newspapers and magazines (Republic, Expressed, Rizzoli RCS group, just to name a few), as well as being an ally of the entire publishing industry of the Left. When you go to newsstands or bookstores, know that the 85% of what you see is published by De Benedetti or by his lifelong allies.

This information monopoly has allowed him (and still allows him) to divert attention from his shady business and concentrate it entirely on his long-time rival, Berlusconi. Today, Repubblica and l'Espresso are among the most widely read newspapers, and a large part of Italian public opinion is convinced that Berlusconi is the cause of all the ills of Italy, while completely or almost completely ignoring, even who he is, Carlo De Benedetti.

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