Riccardo Illy, chairman of the Polo del Gusto food group that owns French tea brand Damman Freres and chocolate label Domori, feared Italy will miss out on some of the promised EU funds for its post-COVID recovery.
"Draghi could have continued till the end of his mandate ... whoever comes next will make us lose billions of euros," he said. Italy is in line for some 200 billion euros but the funds are conditional on it implementing a series of reforms. Reliance on Russian gas and a large manufacturing sector made up predominantly of small businesses render the Italian economy particularly vulnerable to the energy crisis.
Since the Ukraine conflict started in February, many companies in energy-intensive sectors such as steel, glass, ceramics and paper have been forced to curtail production because production costs were too high."When the next minister sets out to solve our problems - and we can only hope he's the best of ministers - it may be too late," said Romano Pezzotti, who runs metals recycling business Fersovere near the northern city of Bergamo.
"After making the big mistake of toppling the government during the worst crisis of the past century ... politicians will need to again turn to somebody capable of solving the country's problems," he added."We all know what needs to be done," said Matteo Tiraboschi, executive chairman of premium brakes maker Brembo"The energy bill in Italy has virtually doubled.
Funny how none of them will say it's due to supporting Ukraine and sanctioning Russia though.
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