Corte dei Conti on Reithera: papocchio by Invitalia di Arcuri?
Invitalia's (Mef) investment in Reithera is not limited to the development of the anti Covid vaccine and the Court of Auditors does it. All the details on the resolution of the accounting judiciary concerning the operation engineered by the Arcuri-led company
The Court of Auditors rejects Invitalia's investment in Reithera because it is not limited to the development of the vaccine. "The absence of a valid and sufficient productive investment, pursuant to art. 5, 14 and 15 of the Ministerial Decree of 9 December 2014, did not, therefore, allow the deed in question to be admitted to the legitimacy approval ", ruled the Court of Auditors.
INCONCILIATED INVESTMENT
In practice, the accounting judiciary considered the proposed investment project irreconcilable with the legal conditions, according to which the project cannot concern the entire company complex but only certain "production units" in the context of the development of the Covid vaccine.
“The Section – explains the Court of Auditors – considered the proposed investment project irreconcilable with the condition set by art. 15, paragraph 1, of the Ministerial Decree of 9 December 2014, according to which the expenses are admissible "to the extent necessary for the purposes of the project subject to the request for subsidies" and not, as shown by the project presented, for general – production or research purposes , also on behalf of third parties – pursued by ReiThera, or for the even more general purposes of strengthening the equity consistency of the company. The productive investment project, in fact, pursuant to art. 14, paragraph 2, of the aforementioned Ministerial Decree cannot concern the entire company complex but only certain “production units” ”, reads the statement from the Court of Auditors .
THE PURCHASE OF THE FILLING PLANT
In the sights of the Court, the purchase of the property of the Company's operational headquarters, located in Castel Romano (RM), ends for an estimated amount of 4,000,000 euros.
This move, explains the Court of Auditors, "does not concern the single" production unit ", represented by the construction of the filling and packaging plant, as claimed by the Administration, but concerns the entire site where the Company carries out all its activities that “In 2019 it essentially concerned research and development activities on behalf of the parent company Keires AG”, as reported in the same Invitalia Report ”.
And he adds: "The inadmissibility of the investment project consisting of the purchase of ownership of the Company's operational headquarters does not therefore allow, in the opinion of the Section, the sole investment represented by the construction of the filling and packaging plant, for an 7,734,126.68 euros, to reach the minimum threshold of 10 million euros prescribed by art. 5, paragraph 3, of the Ministerial Decree of 9 December 2014, for the validity of the productive investment ".
THE REITHERA-INVITALIA AGREEMENT
We need to take a step back. According to the development program presented by Reithera, in fact, the investment was "aimed at expanding the production plant in Castel Romano and an industrial research and experimental development project intended to complete the clinical trial (phase 2 and 3 clinical studies). of the anti Covid-19 vaccine ".
THE INVITALIA INVESTMENT
This program had been examined by Invitalia, which at the end of January 2021 had approved the Development contract presented by the biotech company, with an industrial and research investment of 81 million euros. Of these, 69.3 million euros were allocated to Research & Development activities for the validation and production of the anti-Covid vaccine, while 11.7 million were to be used to expand the Castel Romano plant where the antidote should be produced. "The concessions granted, in accordance with the rules on state aid, amount to approximately 49 million euros: 41.2 million in grants and 7.8 million in subsidized loans", explained the same Invitalia, specifying that "in implementation of provisions of article 34 of the decree-law of 14 August 2020, Invitalia will acquire a 27% stake in the company's capital, following an increase in the capital of Reithera ".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/corte-dei-conti-su-reithera-papocchio-di-invitalia-di-arcuri/ on Fri, 21 May 2021 14:26:27 +0000.