You shall not gas. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi exercised special powers over a subsidiary of Russian nuclear giant Rosatom and its bid to buy 99.41% of the share capital of Faber Industrie Spa, based in Cividale del Friuli (near Udine).
- The subsidiary, Rusatom GasTech LLC, was founded in 2020 and is led by Nikita Davydov, who also manages Umatex, the composite materials division of Rosatom State Corporation.
- The Italian company is a world leader in the design and production of cylinders and systems for high-pressure gas storage.
He’s on a roll. In the past 17 months, PM Draghi’s cabinet made ample use of its special powers (and strengthened both the legislation and the relevant structure in the government’s offices) to further its political-economic aims and defend strategic sectors at risk of being subjected to technology transfer.
- This especially applies to the government’s efforts to counter China’s attempts to expand its presence and influence over the eurozone’s third-largest economy. It happened five times so far, with a robotics company, a dronemaker, two semiconductor firms and an agritech company.
- The decision on the Rosatom deal represents a first for both Russia and the hydrogen sector.
Rosatom’s still standing. In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, both the EU and the US have moved to sanction fossil fuels companies – but not nuclear power, which is Rosatom’s main field.
Decode39 reached out to Faber Industrie Spa, which was not immediately available for comment.
Image: Faber Cylinders
