If one were to identify a golden goose of the Sardinian economy, the right answer would certainly be Cagliari airport. Given the centrality of the Cagliari metropolitan area for Sardinia and the continuous increase in tourist flows, Cagliari airport is booming. Not that workers in the sector have a good life (between precariousness, difficult work shifts and low wages), but that’s another story.
The story we want to tell is that of a goose that lays golden eggs, built with public money and with the effort of many workers in the sector, namely Cagliari airport, which the owners have decided to privatise.
The majority of company shares are held by a public body, the Chamber of Commerce of Cagliari and Oristano. As far as we know, in the future holding company the shares of this entity would be sold to private entities. The scheme envisages 81% of the shareholding equally divided between F2i and the Chamber of Commerce (40.5% each), 10% to the Fondazione di Sardegna and 9% to the Blackrock fund.
This process would go hand in hand with a merger of the management processes and strategic choices of the three Sardinian airports (Cagliari, Olbia and Alghero), in which the F2i fund would be the master.
Blackrock is one of the largest investment funds in the world. It has an enormous capacity to influence the choices of governments in the West. He is one of the most important players in the field of finance, that is, the economy, that is, power, in the world. Larry Fink, Blackrock’s number one, spoke as guest of honor at the last G7 in Fasano, Puglia, and from the tone and content of his speech it seemed that he was telling politicians what to do, and not how Blackrock was ready to help politics. The world upside down.
What interests will Blackrock pursue in the Cagliari and Sardinian airport system? His interest or the collective interests of the Sardinians?
F2i is something different. F2i is a public subsidiary, with a presence of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and the major Italian banking foundations. It has a different characterization than Blackrock. Nonetheless, no one can honestly be sure that it will pursue the exclusive interest of the Sardinians and not of other groups, more or less adherent or close to its corporate core.
Recently, the Autonomous Region of Sardinia has announced that the merger of the Sardinian airports carried out by these entities, led by the F2i investment fund, can proceed, and that the regional government will endorse this process by participating with a minimally influential share. Is a mistake. It means giving up the goose that lays the golden eggs.
If you don’t want to overturn the reasoning, participate with a share of at least 10%. Sardinia must safeguard this strategic asset and guarantee a public service that serves the interests of Sardinian citizens. The local government must increase its control and its shareholding participation.
What does the mayor of Cagliari, also mayor of the metropolitan area, think? What do the regional councilors think? The Five Star Movement, members of the European group “The Left”, which has always opposed these policies, which side are they on?
