Ah another Taghna Lkoll appointment. How cosy.

Ciccio, jien kont mxahxah nara l-prim ministru fuq it-televixin, u f’hin minnhom qal li Malta behsiebha tiffirma patt strategiku ma Shanghai Electric kif ghamlet diga’ ma ‘kumpanijjja Taljaaana’.

Maltatoday kkupjat kelma b’kelma.

[Daphne – No. He was given a cronyism bazuzlu job at a government ministry.]

My late mother and her rummy chummies – around whose card-table no points are being awarded for guessing which topics were hot in those torrid days – amused themselves by calling the anointed one the Pee King.

So, if Borg Marks is now the Pee King, dare I assume that you know whom has been crowned Pee Queen?

[Daphne – Forace, wasn’t it? “We are so close that we pee in each other’s pockets.”]

Antoine raises another important point in the analysis of what Italy is doing with China here.

In Italy, the electricity grid and the gas distribution networks have been liberalised and privatised for many years.

The electricity grid is owned and run by Terna SpA.

These are some facts to amplify what is reported in the Reuters article:

1. The Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA (CDP) – a public company owned mostly by the Italian government – holds 100% of a private company called CDP Reti Srl (CDP Reti).

2. CPD is a company of the Italian government owning mainly nationalised assets, directly or through the companies controlled by it. CDP holds interests in the Snam gas networks through CDP Reti.

3. At the moment, CDP owns a direct interest of 30% in Terna SpA and CDP Reti owns 30% in the Snam gas networks.

4. It is expected that CDP will transfer its 30% interest in Terna SpA to CDP Reti, so that the latter will own about 30% in the Snam gas network and 30% in Terna SpA.

5. China will acquire from CDP a 35% stake in CDP Reti, so that China acquires the two 30% interests in the electricity and gas networks.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/24/italy-china-idUSL6N0PZ1PN20140724

But Terna SpA is mosty a private company, with 70% of its shares held by private interests which control the company, and it has also been listed on the Italian stock exchange for many years. The CDP owns the other 30% of shares.

Bottom line: China is effectively acquiring a minority share in a private company which is regulated by stock market rules. To acquire this stake, China went through an auction procedure.

Because Terna SpA is a listed business, China could have acquired a similar interest through the stock exchange.

Once again, this contrasts sharply with what Joseph Muscat and his phenomenal Minister of Energy have done with Enemalta.

Jozef, my comment was originally posted here – you may have missed it, because there were no replies from your side.

http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/05/look-at-this-lovely-member-of-the-european-parliament-in-the-making/

In my comment of 17th May, I said the following about Shanghai Electric, which is involved in the Ansaldo deal: “There is a note about the company in the second link which you posted. It sets out the full name as Shanghai Electric Group Co Ltd. Stock exchange codes are: (i) SEHK: 2727; (ii) SSE: 601727…”

I also said that “As far as I am aware, this is not the same company involved at Enemalta. The Chinese company involved at Enemalta is Shanghai Electric Power Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China Power Investments. Stock exchange code for SSE: 600021.”

Renzi also calls it privatisation Antoine, to respect the DEF, deficit procedures.

But then, he’s in open clear formalised conflict with unions.

That real negotiations, those extensive tables with a hundred or so delegates from both sides, take place.

Muscat says his isn’t. GWU happy with that.

Ciccio, Muscat had also mentioned in passing ‘a strategic agreement similar to the one Shanghai Electric had just signed with an Italian energy company’.

He was speaking to the faithful in Gozo.

At least that’s what Maltatoday reported the 17th of May. Can’t find the article.

Either he mixed them up, or Maltatoday did.

http://www.italiaoggi.it/news/dettaglio_news.asp?id=201405081214381595&chkAgenzie=ITALIAOGGI

They do refer to it as ‘gruppo’, so you could be right.

http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/impresa-e-territori/2014-05-07/ansaldo-energia-e-shanghai-electric-partner-entrera-il-40percento–211308.shtml?uuid=ABV6rWGB

Still, why would Maltatoday coax us back to the gas network made of pipelines?