ROME -- A hot Roman afternoon, with heat waves of 40°, saw the signing, at the Ministry for Enterprises, MIMIT, of the Program Agreement for the reindustrialisation of the production site of Bagnoli della Rosandra (Trieste). 

  The Agreement, which concludes a two-year phase of a difficult dispute full of ups and downs, provides that the Italian-Swiss MSC of the Sorrento shipowner Aponte will take over the Bagnoli production plant from the Finnish multinational Wärtsilä. As they start producing modern railway wagons and bogies, approximately 1,500 units per year at full capacity, they will absorb the 261 redundant workers from Wärtsilä and implement an industrial plan in the coming months with an investment of approximately 100 million euros in the plant. As a result, the company will maintain the employment levels of the other sites in Italy and the one in Trieste, which employs 700 units, where the services sector and a research and development centre will remain. 

   "We are truly pleased to have signed the agreement that will allow us to now proceed quickly with the conversion of the plant to create a new innovative and cutting-edge industrial hub in Europe, capable of producing, at full capacity, at least one thousand rail wagons per year. A result that rewards the great teamwork and commitment of all the parties involved", commented the representatives of the MSC group and Innofreight, equal partners of the new company Innoway Trieste, after signing the agreement. 

  The objective - explain the two companies - is to "produce the prototypes of the first rail wagons by 2025, destined to obtain all the certifications and then immediately start series production and the development of all subsequent innovations. At the same time, training programs will be implemented for employees with a progressive increase in production activity that is expected to reach full capacity in 2027".

   According to Msc and Innofreight "the agreement could never have been reached without the contribution of the social partners, the Ministry of Enterprises, the trade unions, the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, Confindustria Alto Adriatico and all the institutional actors involved, whom we thank for their commitment and valuable collaboration". After thanking the workers "who were fundamental to the success of our project", the two companies announced that "in the coming months the procedures for dismantling the structures present on the site and setting up the new machinery necessary for the production lines will begin, therefore proceeding in progressive phases".

   Minister Urso, for his part, declared that "this is the best possible conclusion to a crisis that lasted over two years, through the concerted effort of all the actors: a success for the Italian system. We have safeguarded jobs and started the reconversion of an industrial site, which was destined to close, with the intervention of an international player ready to develop a long-lasting project for the territory with a high technological content. For this reason, the Wärtsilä dispute will also be an example for other corporate crises that the Mimit is bringing to a positive solution. With everyone's participation, it was possible to complete the Program Agreement in just 4 months, which will redesign a significant part of the port and dry port areas of Trieste".

   "The signing of the Program Agreement is an important and not to be taken for granted result, achieved thanks to the collaboration of everyone, public administration, trade unions and private entities", declared Michele Cafagna, CEO of Wärtsilä Italia. 

  "A stage that aims to be a starting point for the growth and development of the Trieste area that will see everyone as protagonists. For Wärtsilä, Trieste and Italy will remain important locations for research and development, sales, services, project management and training activities.” 

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