Webuild General Manager Massimo Ferrari: Pnrr unique opportunity to unblock Italy’s potential

Financial sector plays key role in overcoming structural limits to implement Pnrr and complete projects on time, especially regarding guarantees

MILAN, Nov 23, 2021 - "The Next Generation EU and PNRR (National Plan for Recovery and Resilience) represent a unique opportunity for the long awaited structural reforms that we need to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of our companies to unleash the potential of the Italian economic system so strongly desired by banks, companies and the entire production system ," said Massimo Ferrari, Webuild General Manager, during a round table discussion "Transferring NEXT GEN EU into the Real Economy: a cooperative game between Italian Institutions and the Financial Sector?" hosted by UniCredit as part of the Italian Financials Debt Conference.

"We are optimistic but there are a lot of complex issues to be faced in the light of the fact that certain measures are absolutely indispensable," Ferrari said. "We hope that the financial system will continue to support the sector, especially when it comes to the system of guarantees. It would be useful to have a joint working group to include the public institutions, contractors, banks and insurers to deal with the limits that exist today and that prevent the plan's quick implementation. Ideally the group that whould include public institutions, contractors, banks and insurers aimed at finding the best way to implement the PNRR within the given timeframe. We must foresee the possibility of sharing risk among several guarantors, or maybe a gradual reduction of the risk held by construction companies, with the amount of the guarantees diminishing over time. In some cases, we already have a solution to hand, in others we need only to apply the terms of existent international or European standards. Along with the issue of guarantees, we need to take into consideration other issues such as the growing cost of raw materials, in a clear and definite manner. Companies are no longer able to absorb these increases and therefore contracts need to foresee mechanisms that take into account price fluctuations."

"The projects that fall under the PNRR must be completed by 2026. By Italian standards, that would be completing something in record time. We need to have an approval process that is fast and makes good use of a new model for private and public collaboration, a model that was tested for the Genova San Giorgio Bridge, built by Webuild. The Genoa Model has shown that, when all the stakeholders work towards a common objective, the national system (Sistema Italia) is able to complete projects on time without wasting money, whilst creating jobs and boosting development. Webuild is aiming to work efficiently with the entire supply chain also by offering subcontractors and suppliers back-to-back contractual terms and improving working conditions that will trickle down from the client all the way down to the companies along the supply chain. This would be of particular help to companies in southern Italy, who would probably envisage for the first time a chance to develop in the coming years," he added.

Webuild, a key player in the construction sector at the global level, is among those most involved in the field of sustainable mobility. It is active in 50 countries with a track record that includes the construction of 80,300 kilometres of roads and highways and 946 kilometres of bridges and viaducts. In Italy, the Group is involved in modernising the transport system in Italy, including sections of high-speed rail between Naples and Bari, Verona and Padova, and Milan and Genoa with the Terzo Valico dei Giovi-Nodo di Genova. It is also working on a state road in Calabria and metro lines in Milan, Rome and Naples.