blog expo milano

Early this week in Paris Letizia Morati, mayor of Milan, and CEO of Soge Lucio Stanca, the managing company the Expo, attended the Bie meeting where Moratti lashed out against Filippo Penati, president of the Lombardia province, for his negative comments on the lack of bipartisan cooperation for the Expo.

During the meeting Moratti harshly stated “I am very surprised by Pinati’s accusations of being a team player. I’ll give you two numbers: for the Expo the Commune has gone in 55 missions in 130 countries, while the Province has only gone to 5 in 10 countries. ” She concludes “If there is change in the presidency of the province there wouldn’t be any more problems with the Expo”. Massimo D’Alema, left wing representative, responds “if this is an electoral committee of the right wing then I believe I wouldn’t be the only one with problems by staying.

Moratti doesn’t see issues within the majority “the government did the most important thing of all: it gave money. There isn’t anything else I would ask for”. The president of Bie, Lafon, couldn’t agree even more as he concludes “the confirmation of funds by the government, even after the Abruzzo earthquake is the best testimony of the Italian government’s commitment to the Expo”.

Milan’s mayor Letizia Moratti presented a plan to place the headquarters of Soge, the organizing body of Expo 2015, in the historical center of Milan as well as outskirts of the city.  Part of Soge’s HQ will be set up within  the Palazzo Reale (royal palace) located in next to the Duomo. The large operating part of the HQ is suggested to be placed outside the city center in the notorious neighborhood of Quarto Oggiaro.

Lucio Stanca, CEO of Soge, does not favour Moratti’s choice for the operating department. He declares “the city needs to guarantee a location of equal or great prestige for the Expo as well as it should not be disconnected form the other institutions which Soge is in daily contact with”.  The president of Palazzo Isimbardi, Filippo Penati, responds “our proposal is practical so much that there are other companies is the Soge’s future offices.”  Leonardo Caioni, Treasury department representative of Soge, continues the debate by indicating “It’s right that Soge has a prestigious office space but they need to be decentralize”.

Where will the operative HQ of Soge be is another question which the EXPO needs to deal with. Rather than Soge lifting their sleeves and getting down to business it’s getting tangled up in more and more issues which instead of being resolved in a couple days it’s taking weeks.

Alsmot 12 months have passed since Milan celebrated winning the Expo 2015 and heavy delays face the organization and managing committees of the Expo. However large private construction companies around the Expo area, which is expected to host over 29 million visitors, are well on their way. In the center of Rho, not far from the new Milan Fair and where the Expo pavilions will surge, a plan has been set forth to transform an old industrial stablishment into hotels, shops and apartment complexes.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the company which proposed this project, Bracco Real Estate srl, is part of a pharmaceutical group headed by Diana Bracco, Chairman of Expo 2015 SpA (managing company of the expo’s public funding and constructions sights) as well as head of Assolombardia (one of Milan’s most powerful industrial groups).

Bracco’s conflict of interest was brought up at the managing committee’s meeting earlier this week and after some debate Ms. Bracco was not requested to step down from any of her other positions. Unlike Lucio Stanca, CEO of Soge the administrative and managing company of the Expo, whom was requested to leave his Parliamentary position.

Either way Bracco’s position is safe and so is the new industrial complex in Rho. As the Bracco Group indicates “the industrial area in the center of Rho is a historical complex, as others in the territory, which has become a re-qualification project”.

Less than a month ago Lucio Stanca was confirmed as the new CEO of Soge, the company leading the organization of Milan’s Expo in 2015, and early this week he faced the Expo managing committee regarding his two political positions: CEO and Parliamentarian.

The committee voted twenty-one to seventeen (3 abstained from voting) that Stanca should sept down from his Parliamentarian position. The request is a clear sign that holding both positions is a conflict of interests as the head of the leftist opposition Pierfrancesco Majorino states “this [decision] is a unmistakable sign: stop using the Expo as a sweet to be divided. Now Stanca should respect this decision and should not humiliate the city of Milan.”

Six years from now Milan will host the 2015 International Expo and it will also be able to inaugurate its new metropolitan system.  The needed expansion of the public transportation will include three new metro lines and vast extensions of the existing railway lines.

Since urban previsions speculate that the city of Milan will grow up to 61 million people by the time the Expo begins, politicians and urban architects are working together in order that people will use the metro much more than using private cars. “Today about 47% of commuters use the metro and 47% use their own cars to get to work, while only 5% utilize bicycles.  However in a near future when most Milanesse will have a metro stop close to their homes or a nearby train lines the percentages should drastically change”. Of course it’ll have to wait until 2015 to see the results in these percentages.

Most likely the new transportation system will not have the standards of either London or New York systems however with three extra metro lines, over 140 railway rails and 150 stops it may be time for the people of Milan to leave their cars home and take the metro.

Paolo Glisenti, the right of of Milan’s mayor Letizia Moratti, has retracted his nomination of the position of CEO of Soge, the company running the Expo.

After almost a year of bitter discussions between Moratti and the Expo Organizational Committee in finalizing the CEO position for Mr. Glisenti, negotiations deteriorated and Mr. Glisenti withdrew his nomination.

Glisenti’s replacement Lucia Stanca, ex-minister of Innovation’s Department under the Berlusconi government, was confirmed at the beginning of this month. “Though Glisenti has moved from the scene the problems remind” states Pierfrancesco Majorino, from PD such as the balance sheet, developing projects and construction. In order words: everything

Letizia Moratti the Mayor of Milan and concessionaire of the EXPO 2015 admits that there has been some delays in starting up the organizational aspects of the expo but underlines that ” we have certainly have not lost a year”. Soge, the company that runs the expo, should be ready “in a few weeks” states Moratti, reminds the 485 projects for the expo in cooperation with various international organizations and over 90 countries.

Regarding the relationship between Soge and city of Milan, which is essential for the organizational aspect, the Mayor indicates “we are already working on it. We have already met with various business representatives whom will naturally work with volunteers.”  She also added that Milan will have many architectural benefits with projects including new “water ways, parks, revaluing the city’s old farm houses” as well as eco-compatible infrastructure such as low-emission buses and metros “in oder to not to rely on cars and pollute less.  We are moving towards meeting the needs of the public transportation which will cost less and be cleaner.

“The Expo, adds Moratti, represents a great opportunity for tourism in Milan as well as it’ll create 70 thousands jobs in a moment which is very much needed.”

After a year of winning the Expo 2015, its managing company Soge has yet to take off and its mainly due to the showdown between the Minister of Finance, Giulio Tremonti, and the Mayor of Milan, Letizia Moretti. Each have a very strong and clear concept on of how and who is to run Soge: in the Mayor’s corner is her right hand ‘administrator’ Paolo Glisenti (a vital component in obtaining the Expo) while the government proposes a commission headed by the Department of Civil Protection.

Both, of course, want to have the most say and power in matters of the Expo, however a year has passed and projects need to be developed and concluded on time by 2015. So will there be a compromise? Many lean towards this decision however it’s not sure what the outcome may be. Will Moratti sacrifice Glisenti and therefore recognizing the power of its main political parties (Forza Italia and Lega)? or will she accept a more confirmed administrator role for Glisenti, and therefore collaborating all-decision making with the commission? Or, as rumoured, will Moratti dissolved the Sofe company and start from scratch?

As time runs towards the beginning of the Expo, there are to many projects and jobs on the line. It’s essential that the Expo gets a major jump start otherwise all the work may be for nothing. Each political factor needs to stop playing the politico game of ‘How much can I get’ and maybe then, just maybe, we can all benefit from the Expo. As stated in convention attended by Moretti: “Expo 2015: an event for Milan or a business deal for few?”.

VS.

At a conference in Palazzo Chigi in Rome, European MP and ex-mayor of Milan, Gabriele Albertini, spoke out against Paolo Glisenti’s nomination as CEO of Soge, the planning committee for Expo 2015. Albertini stated to the press “we are all useful, but nobody is indispensable [and] if the problem is the relationship between the nominee and the mayor of Milan with the rest of the Soge members, the issue must be resolved in a professional manner: there are other positions and other people. A year has already been wasted [in this process]“.

Albertini continues “the city of Milan only puts in 20% of the capital but pretends to have 100% of the managerial power. You cannot just ignore the other 80% of investors who have a different managerial ideas than the mayor.” “A revision of the original Expo project is inevitable, not only because of  the year delay, but also because the economic crisis imposes it”. Albertini’s statement is loud and clear: step back Mr. Glisenti since only Letizia Moratti, the current mayor of Milan, wants him.

During a meeting with trade unions urging the issue to be unlocked Moratti states “the situation is complicated but we need to look ahead” and asks the ‘asessori’ to propose ideas for the upcoming Expo.

Emma Marcegaglia, President of Confindustria (the confederation of Italian Industry), spoke last week on the EXPO urging the importance of “… the company that manages the Expo 2015 (Soge) needs to recapitalized and that a decision regarding its governance has to be made. ” Two points which have been difficult to address due to political maneuvers.

The company which financially manages the Expo, Soge, was created just 4 months ago and though many organizations pledged millions, only a few funds have come to reality. Two million euros were just received by the Provience of Lombardia, the Chamber of Commece as well as by the City of Milan; however the key pledge of 4 million euros by the Italian Government is no where in sight. Hence the urge by Marcegaglia as well as Letizia Moratti, Mayor of Rome, to the right wing political government to mobilize needed funding.

The second point by Marcegaglia refers to the two-time postponed nomination of Paolo Glisenti as administrative director or CEO of the company managing the Expo. Letizia Moratti nominated her right hand city administrator however political pressures from the government, specially the Minister of Finance Tremonti, have not allowed the confirmation of Glisenti’s nomination. The politico games between these factions have cause many delays in time and money for the Expo, so once again one must ask: where is light at the end of this tunnel?