“Former Selex Es, no divestment from Genoa”

Genoa - “No divestment is taking place on the part of Leonardo-Finmeccanica concerning the assets of the former Selex Es of Genoa. In fact, our plan calls for investments and hiring. Monetics was a niche sector in which we were strong but not strong enough. AEP is a small but solid company, which we believe is capable of making the most of the assets sold. The jobs are guaranteed, there will be no transfer. And we are not planning other sales of activities based in Genoa.”

After the 1,800 workers of the Genoese headquarters of the former Selex Es demonstrated against the sale of the monetics division, moreover declaring that Leonardo Finmeccanica Group has still not “introduced an industrial plan” for its Genoese assets, Andrea Biraghi, who, since January, has been the director of Security & Information Systems, the division in which much of Selex Es’s business takes place, is beginning to unveil the new projects of the company led by Mauro Moretti.

It begins with monetics but one doesn’t know where it will end: the union, but more generally the local area, fear that this will be the beginning of the group’s divestment from the Genoese civilian assets. “That is not the case,” Biraghi told Il Secolo XIX, “We do not have other assets for sale in Genoa. As a matter of fact, we have investment projects and a plan to hire in three sectors.”

The manager explained that he was referring to “automation, which is at 100% in Genoa; to cyber security, which is divided between Genoa and Rome; and to the air traffic control systems, which in this case also employ staff in Genoa (where the engineering division is located) and in Rome.” What are the numbers? “I cannot speak about the numbers because they will be presented to the unions first. We are planning to hire dozens between Genoa and Rome.”

On the future recruitment and why the group decided not to replace the 25 workers from monetics, Biraghi was clear: “In the context of the reorganisation, we placed over 200 workers from SCADA Sensors and other things that monetics was handling, but it was no longer possible to continue like this. We are convinced that AEP will make the most of these people.”

The manager said that “the workers will be protected, they will continue to work in Genoa because AEP has committed to opening headquarters in the city and until it is ready they will remain where they are, that is with us.” “I understand the fears,” the director concluded, “but the sale of the monetics division is not the first in a series. There are no other dossiers on the table. The group has chosen to concentrate on those businesses in which they can be leaders. Automation is one of those businesses. As is cyber security, where we are transferring the experience we have gained in the defence sector to the civilian world.”