Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Italy chaos fears paralyze their bilateral business prsperos

Does not seem a coincidence that in Tahrir Square in Cairo some young people sing, Hosni Mubarak after he threw the spoon, "we go from here if Gaddafi and Berlusconi also resign." Many North Africans know that the regime of Libyan dictator is in the Italy of Silvio Berlusconi to his great Western ally and a preferred trade partner.

Since two years ago Berlusconi and Colonel signed the Treaty of Friendship, Partnership and Cooperation, the bilateral business now exceed 40,000 million euros per year and reach all key sectors, from energy to banking or building and without missing military agreements and intelligence.

All under the sign of bunga bunga, the infamous erotic rite, according to Berlusconi, Gaddafi taught during one of its colorful and frequent meetings. Libyan gas supply is vital for Italy, and to a lesser extent Spain, Germany and France, and the first alarm has jumped today because a group of opponents of the Gaddafi regime, called February 17 (the date on which he set the wick of the riots), has posted on its website a warning message to the European Union, and "in particular to Italy" as follows: "People remember Nalut part of a Libyan people free, and after your silence the massacres carried out by Gaddafi, has decided that from the source interrupt the flow of Libyan gas to your country, closing the site of Al Wafa that carries the gas to Italy and northern Europe through the Mediterranean.

" ENI, the Italian energy company, today confirmed that last night closed the pipeline Greenstream a "procedural matter" before the riots, but has said that Italy has enough reserves to face the end of winter. Business billionaires addition to gas, are oil and huge reserves of petrodollars in the big guns that Qaddafi has used to seduce Silvio Berlusconi, who in the past two years has become the main champion of the colonel's return to the international scene.

Both countries are developing at this time a large number of million-dollar deals, wrapped in a gigantic conflict of interest between public and private, between high politics and diplomacy postcolonial personal business and state. Many of the companies listed on the Milan Stock Exchange are resented as close relationship.

This morning, the park has suspended contributions citing technical problems. The market regulator and stock exchange operators have sought explanations for the alleged damage. The latter suspect the suspension has been a way to prevent listed companies with interests in Libya continue falling.

The task of legitimizing the former "dog Libyan" (Ronald Reagan) has been hard and tiring, at times embarrassing. And today has become the great obsession of the Italian Government, which has reacted to the brutal repression of regime friend slowly, warmth and ambiguity judged as "unacceptable" by the opposition, who yesterday accused Berlusconi of having humiliated the dignity Italian commit to an authoritarian regime and criminal.

Rome fears the chaos halt or end to the numerous agreements signed with the Libyan dictator. Highways are in play, football, helicopters, radar, trains, television, banks, cars, even a luxury hotel in downtown Tripoli. Since two years ago, on 30 August 2008, Libya and Italy signed the treaty in Benghazi that closed a long and tense colonial dispute with solemn apologies Colonel Il Cavaliere including Libya has become one of the Investment favorite scenes of big Italian companies.

Conversely, Gaddafi has pumped large amounts of cash in Italian companies on the advice of Berlusconi. All this, with illegal immigration and human rights as a bloody backdrop: the agreement allowed for Italy and the EU to return to Libya in droves to African immigrants caught in its waters in breach of international laws that protect asylum seekers .

Allegations of torture, extortion and abuse of migrants in Libya are continuing. Pirate Negotiator Wikileaks Under cables, U.S. diplomat believed that Qaddafi, which he defines as a "pirate negotiator, also has interests in human trafficking and illegal immigration mafia. The relationship between Gaddafi and Berlusconi has paid eight visits to the head of the Italian Government to Libya, and four returns of courtesy by the Libyan Rais.

In the first, July 2009, Berlusconi had a sudden back pain that prevented him from moving. Gaddafi said from his plane that if Berlusconi was not going to get to the airport not landed. According to secret cables, Berlusconi had to inject two relievers to go, and the airport was about to faint.

But perhaps the most embarrassing moment was when Berlusconi kissed the hand of Colonel during an equestrian exhibition held at the police headquarters in Rome in 2010. This time, the Libyan leader threatened the European Union not to block the landing of African migrants from their coasts if Brussels does not cover expenses.

"Libya, with the support of Italy, Europe requires at least 5,000 million per year," said Gaddafi. "It is in the interest of Europe, because if not, tomorrow, the progress of immigrants could make in Africa, a new black continent." That visit, which commemorated the anniversary of the Treaty, also outraged Catholics and Italian women because Gaddafi gave two sermons of Islam to 500 flight attendants paid.

"With the treaty of friendship we have closed a wound of the past," he replied to the criticism, the Italian prime minister, "and everyone should be happy about this visit. He who does not do it," Berlusconi said, "belongs to the past." Movies with Ben Ammar, banking with the Northern League The architect of the reconciliation between Tripoli and Rome was, curiously, a French-Tunisian businessman: mogul Tarak Ben Ammar and finance, cinema and television producer, a friend of Berlusconi and Gaddafi and a member of both the producer and distributor Quinta Communications, founded in 1990 by Ben Ammar.

Lafitrade Libyan company has 10% of Quinta Communications, while the major financial company Berlusconi, Fininvest, has, after a capital increase in 2009, about 22%. Two years ago, Quinta Communications and Mediaset acquired each 25% of the new television Nessma Tunisian TV. The exchanges between Italy and Libya have soared in recent months.

In June, Gadhafi promised priority to Italian companies on other countries. And that priority seems mutual: Libyan dictator is the largest shareholder, with 7.5% in Unicredit, Italy's largest bank, after Libya Investment Authority acquired 2.59% stake last September (the remaining percentage was in the hands of the Libyan Central Bank).

Libyan climbing on UniCredit coincided with the resignation of CEO Alessandro Profumo, and created great concern among analysts because it exceeded the legal quota of 5%. The operation was interpreted as an assignment of Gaddafi and Berlusconi, paradoxically, as a favor to the xenophobic Northern League, his partner in government, with the consent of the Libyan capital increased its power of decision in the bank.

Mediobanca, on whose board sits Marina Berlusconi, daughter of Italian prime minister, controls 5.14% of Unicredit. Major interests are the hallmark of ENI, the Italian energy giant, which will invest the next 20 years in Libya by value of 18,200 million euros. The two largest construction Italian Astaldi and Impregilo, also signed contracts for 5,000 million euros to build a highway linking Tripoli with Egypt, an old pan-Arab dream of Gaddafi.

The state-owned Finmeccanica aerospace became a millionaire contract to deploy radar in the Libyan desert to help control immigration. Libya has recently acquired 2% of Finmeccanica. In addition, the Libyan dictator years owns 7.5% of Juventus, the team of Fiat. Interestingly, Berlusconi and Gaddafi have continued to close deals last week, when Rome allowed Gazprom access to Libyan oil business, by selling his Russian counterpart ENI a 33% share in the important Elephant oil well, located 800 miles south of Tripoli.

The concern is not small. Berlusconi announced this morning that Gaddafi will try to call during the day to say "enough of so much blood." The question is whether there will be someone on the other side of the line to respond.

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