Latest news with #Autostrade
Associated Press
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- Associated Press
Autostrade joins UNESCO World Engineering Day 2025 campaign
Autostrade, as a leader in sustainable motorway management, has been selected as an official partner for UNESCO World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development (WED) 2025, which was launched at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 4 March 2025. London, UK - 4th Apr, 2025 - WED is jointly operated by UNESCO and the World Federation for Engineering Organizations (WFEO), which spans some 100 countries and represents more than 30 million engineers. It is an International Day proclaimed by the UNESCO General Conference and open to everyone. The launch in March marks the start of a year-long campaign of events, films, and related articles and news, highlighting the achievements of engineers and engineering around the world, and promoting engineering as a career. Produced by the SJH Group – the official media partner and broadcaster for WED – all campaign content, which includes a multimedia hub dedicated to Autostrade, is hosted on the WED website at As an official partner, Autostrade's insights and expertise will form an integral part of the 12-month campaign, which provides a springboard for governments, UN-associated organisations, policymakers, educators, and leaders in the public and private sectors to raise awareness of the importance of engineering. The WED campaign has an estimated global reach of more than 100 million individuals, and this year's theme, 'Shaping our sustainable future through engineering,' focuses on the essential role that engineering has to play in achieving the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Concetta Testa, Head of Sustainability at Autostrade per l'Italia, says: 'In 2024, the centenary of the A8, the world's first motorway, was celebrated, along with the sixtieth anniversary of Italy's greatest infrastructure project, the A1. This 800-kilometer artery was built in just eight years, symbolizing the connection between the north and south of the country. On the day of its inauguration, it featured 113 bridges and viaducts, 572 overpasses, and 38 tunnels, requiring the excavation of nearly 54 million cubic meters of material. Over the decades, road transport has further strengthened its central role. In Italy, both passenger and freight transport primarily rely on road networks, with figures fluctuating between 80% and 90%. Mobility has transformed significantly over the years, and the Autostrade per l'Italia Group has set as its strategic priorities making it safer, more digitalized, more decarbonized, more inclusive, and therefore more sustainable. With this vision, Autostrade per l'Italia promotes a sustainable business approach, where engineering plays a key role to achieve success. For this reason, sustainable engineering is integrated into the value chain of Autostrade per l'Italia, with innovative solutions in both the Italian and European context. These solutions are applied to monitor, manage, maintain, and build motorway infrastructure.' Addressing the significance of WED, Mustafa Shehu, President of the WFEO, says: 'World Engineering Day 2025 is all about putting engineering in the global spotlight, showing how engineers are leading the way in the effort to meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goal targets, and inspiring the next generation to find out more about what a career in engineering has to offer.' Jacques de Mereuil, Executive Director of the WFEO, adds: 'We're thrilled to be involved in launching this important international celebration and campaign at UNESCO's global headquarters in Paris, and delighted to have Autostrade involved, as an authority in sustainable motorway management.' To view Autostrade's WED content, visit: The WED 2025 launch, campaign, and related content went live on 4 March 2025 at Media Contact
Reuters
14-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Italy faces EU accounting change that could add billions to public debt
Summary Companies Eurostat investigates government role in Autostrade sale Eurostat has previously reclassified Italian firms Reclassification of Autostrade raises risk of further action Italy sees debt rising through 2026 to almost 138% of GDP ROME, March 14 (Reuters) - European Union authorities are considering an accounting change that would increase Italy's towering public debt, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, adding the Italian authorities were in negotiation. The change would make Motorway operator Autostrade per l'Italia a public entity, meaning its up to 11.5 billion euros ($12.47 billion) in financial liabilities would be counted as public debt, the sources said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Unless Italy can dissuade the European Commission's statistics arm Eurostat to abandon the change, it could add as much as half a percentage point of gross domestic product to the country's debt-to-GDP ratio and complicate Italy's pledge to Brussels to reduce it. Proportionally the highest in the euro zone after Greece, Italy's debt reached 135.3% of GDP in 2024 up from 134.6% the year before. Autostrade shot to international attention following a bridge collapse in Genoa in 2018. The company changed hands in May 2022 for 9.3 billion euros when a consortium of investors bought the toll-road group from the Benetton family, ending a legal dispute triggered by the collapse of a bridge Autostrade operated that killed 43 people. Following the deal, it is controlled by state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti alongside U.S. fund Blackstone and Australia's fund Macquarie. The Italian state lender, which has 356 billion euros in gross debt, is outside the public administration as it operates with a profit-driven approach, but Eurostat monitors its activities. A third source said that if Eurostat changes Autostrade per l'Italia's status, that implies an increased risk Cassa Depositi e Prestiti will also be reclassified, which would further aggravate the country's public finances. Asked to comment, representatives from Eurostat said the statistical office is in constant dialogue with member states about statistical issues, including the classification of units in the public administration sector. Autostrade per l'Italia's "present classification" is outside the general government sector, they added. GOVERNMENT MANDATE Eurostat officials visiting Italy in November 2022 investigated whether Cassa Depositi e Prestiti had received a mandate from the government to buy the motorway operator, according to a public report outlining Eurostat's findings at the time. Marking its autonomy from the government on strategic decisions, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti said it viewed the purchase as a profitable investment and needed the support of its co-investors to decide on issues affecting the company, the report added. Eurostat also visited Italy in mid-November 2024. Its findings are not expected to be published before August, but one of the sources said Italy had been unable so far to convince Eurostat the government had not prompted Cassa Depositi e Prestiti to invest in the motorway operator. The statistics bureau in recent years forced Italy to classify as inside the general government sector several state-controlled firms, including bad loan manager AMCO. Italy expects its debt to rise through 2026 to almost 138% of GDP due to the lingering effect of a costly state-funded home renovation scheme, even though it has been largely phased out. ($1 = 0.9219 euros)
