First trip abroad, the Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi today in Libya. It is not a choice dictated by chance but by the need to make it known that Italy is present. A way to restore order and re-establish the hierarchies in the North African country, which has always been in tune, albeit in alternating phases, with Italy. The occasion appears favorable after the inauguration of the new and only government of national unity led by Abdulhamid Dbeibah, supported by the UN. Libya is a very important crossroads for the stability of the enlarged Mediterranean and essential for the management of migratory flows, not to mention the economic interests that see hundreds of our companies engaged in various activities ranging from commercial construction, to critical sites and great works. The leader of Italian interests is Eni, which in Libya is present in Tripolitania in the fields of al Wafa and el Feel on the border with Algeria and in the offshore fields. In Libya, Eni has a decidedly central role, much more than that of its French competitor Total. The Italian company, in tandem with the national company Noc, represents 70% of Libyan national production. In 2019, before the civil war and the pandemic, Eni's production in Libya stood at 270-280 thousand barrels per day, while in 2017 it had reached a record of 384 thousand barrels per day. The pipeline Greenstream Instead, it collects natural gas from the two fields of Bahr Essalam and Wafa to get it to Gela in Sicily.
Draghi will therefore bring Italy's support to the government of national unity which is expected to end its mandate on December 24, the day of the presidential elections. The next few months will be decisive for the Tripoli government because it will have to undertake very difficult negotiations with the mercenaries hired by foreign countries to persuade them to withdraw peacefully. A necessary condition to be able to return to the international scene with a democratically elected government free from the influences of third countries such as Turkey e Russia. Therefore, Libya is hoped for a decisive and legality-oriented turning point for state recognition by the international community. Mario Draghi also reiterated this in Parliament a few weeks ago: "We need to be very vigilant that the ceasefire agreement is respected with the evacuation of those who fueled this war, the mercenaries and armies of other countries, including Turkey".
Aenas and ENAV preceded Draghi's visit
The correspondent of the Corsera in Tripoli reported on the meetings already held by the delegation of the Aeneas Consortium, formed by five private companies and led by its founder, Elio Franci, as well as that of the Italian public agency for air service Enav, directed by the managing director Paolo Simioni. "It couldn't have been better. We have restarted ready-made contracts, the payments were defined and the work organized which will resume immediately. Here they are aware of the importance our countries have for each other. But above all there is a great desire to do, after the crisis caused by the war", Both declared after meeting the Libyan Transport Minister, Muhammad al Shahoubi.
The only Aeneas consortium it is worth contracts that amount to approximately 80 million euros for the commissioning of the international airport of Tripoli. The sum will be divided between the companies that make it up: Escape, Axitea, Twoseven, Lyon Consulting, Orfeo Mazzitelli. "We are ready, we have a well-oiled engine, also because in 2018 we had already started work. But then the bombing of the troops of General Khalifa Haftar forced us to evacuate. Now the area is quiet. We have 150 Italian technicians and engineers, as well as 300 Libyans, already organized. Within three weeks, the Tripoli authorities will give us the green light to access the site, which must be cleared of explosives. The Italian experts will also check. Then, within ten months of intense work, we will be ready to deliver the operational, turnkey airport» assures the founder of the Consortium to the Courier.
Also 'Enav it is not new in Libya. Since the first weeks after the 2011 revolution, its technicians have been busy restoring the overhead lines. Since then, its contracts have been around 14 million euros, especially aimed at the reconstruction of the control tower of Mitiga airport, currently the only one functioning in Tripoli, which in turn had been damaged during the siege of the forces of Haftar in 2019. Part of the work will be the training of the air traffic controllers to the technical equipment supplied by Italy. "For us, the relationship with Libya is strategic. The closure of its airspace harms us, due to the fact that it also limits the overflight of international routes on the Italian one, with the consequent drastic reduction in income from taxes for rights of way.“, Highlights the CEO of ENAV, Simioni. One of the positive consequences of these works is the possibility of resuming direct flights between Libya and Europe. Regularly resuming flights to and from Libya will favor hundreds of small and medium-sized Italian companies, ready to return and work in a country where the war had prevented them from completing the contracts already stipulated.