Governance

The 2023 Budget Law ordered the reversal of the Company’s liquidation with effect from 1 April 2023. As of that date, under article 2, paragraph 1 of Legislative Decree 35 of 31 March 2023 (Legislative Decree 35/2023), the concession previously entrusted to the Company was reactivated, with management of the infrastructure set to last for a term of thirty years from the date the bridge enters service.

With regard to the ensuing relations with the Italian government, under the above article 2 of Legislative Decree 35/2023 (paragraphs 7 and 8) “the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport  (“MIT”) and the Minister of the Economy and Finance (“MEF”) are authorised to enter into a planning agreement  with the concession holder and the shareholders (see below) to define the respective administrative and financial commitments relating to the restart of the concession holder’s activities and completion of the project’s design and construction”. Moreover, to this end, “the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport is authorised to reach agreement with the concession holder on one or more addenda to the concession arrangement” entered into in 2003.

The planning agreement was signed by the MEF, the MIT, Calabria and Sicily regional authorities, RFI, ANAS and Stretto di Messina (“SdM”) in April 2026. As required by Law Decree 32 of 11 March 2026 (LD 32/2026), the agreement was registered with the Court of Auditors on 15 May this year.

Under article 1, paragraph 4 of LD 32/2026, the addenda to the concession arrangement – with the attached financial plan – will be signed following a resolution of the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development (CIPESS). Under article 3, paragraph 7 of Law Decree 35/2023, CIPESS must approve, among other things, the new financial plan for the concession and the preliminary report of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, setting out how the full cost of the project is to be funded.

With respect to the estimated total cost of the Project of €13,532 million, it should be noted that LD 32/2026 (article 1, paragraphs 8 and 17.a) has confirmed the overall amount of public funding for the Project as €13,162 million, in addition to the €370 million resulting from the capital increase subscribed for by the MEF in December 2023. LD 32/2026 has also amended the provisions in article 1, paragraph 272 of the 2024 Budget Law, rescheduling the funding during the construction phase to align it with the updated financial requirements resulting from the Project’s new construction timeline.