“I have always obeyed the State, not the parties. And once, on the bridge in Genoa, I saved them both”: with these words Giuseppe Bono summed up his 20 years in charge of Fincantieri in an interview with L’Espresso launched a few hours after the formalization of the Appointment of Pierroberto Folgiero as the new CEO of the group. Bono defended his choices, including selling the Fremm frigates to the Egyptian regime of Al-Sisi: “I thought I should” face “praise” rather than criticism, “with that operation, which brought us more revenue, Fincantieri reopened a channel direct with a country functional to the geopolitical needs of Italy. A way out was necessary after we became irrelevant in Libya. Today we urgently need gas and also thanks to us we can buy it from the Egyptians ».
The extreme attempt to stay in the saddle
Bono tried to stay in the saddle until the end, thanks also to his ties to the Quirinale and various political sides, but Cassa Depositi e Prestiti preferred to open a new chapter in Fincantieri’s history. Until a few hours after the announcement of the new Board of Directors, Bono claimed the presidency with strong powers, confident in the positive results obtained with the last budget. But after 20 years, was the reasoning of Cdp and Palazzo Chigi, “it becomes natural to think of a replacement”. “Each state pursues its own interests”, then underlined the 78-year-old Calabrian leader, who will thus conclude his fifth and final term in Fincantieri in May, “I closed the agreement with Al Sisi with the full support of the second government of Giuseppe Conte At night the parties authorized me to negotiate, the next day they made proclamations about Regeni.” He then recalled the group’s commitment to the new bridge in Genoa, “among the few works completed on time”.
the succession
Graduated in Economics and Commerce, Bono began his career in the Fiat-Finmeccanica group. After being named CEO of Aviofer, from 1991 to 1993 he was general manager of Efim. But it was in 1997 that he became general manager of Finmeccanica and in 2000 CEO. A whole career in public companies, therefore, but now Bono has to hand over the scepter to Folgiero, since 2013 CEO and CEO of Maire Tecnimont, the world’s leading industrial group in the transformation of natural resources. Josep Borrell, General Claudio Graziano, current chief of staff of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will succeed Giampiero Massolo, appointed by Edizione Holding to the same post in Atlantia as president.