Within the portfolio of work in hand, the value of the domestic business, equivalent to €6,836 million, accounts for 31% of the total backlog.
Domestic market operations, totalling €565.1 million, represented 16% of the value of production at 31 December 2013.
Rome metro, B line
The new section of the B1 line linking Piazza Bologna and Piazza Conca d’Oro was put into service on 13 June 2012, in the presence of the Mayor of Rome and the major municipal authorities.
Provisional approval was given in February 2013, while the granting of the claims posted in the final bull is still pending.
Excavations of the tunnels for the line from Piazza Conca d’Oro to Jonio station have been completed, while finishing work and the installation of technological plant are in progress.
The works relating to the supply shafts have essentially been completed, as has the construction of car parks at the Annibaliano and Conca d’Oro stops.
Negotiations with the client resulted in an extension of the contractual terms, extended to August 2014, pursuant to Order of Service No. 21 sent by the Contracting Authority.
The Group also won the tender to extend line B of the Rome metro, from Rebibbia to Casal Monastero. The project, assigned by Roma Metropolitane to a consortium including Vianini and Ansaldo, will be conducted using the property development technique, and its value is calculated at approximately €948 million.
The major works will be the dead-end track at Rebibbia, the station at San Basilio and the station at Torraccia/Casal Monastero with around 3.8 km of tunnels, a junction and car parks with 2,500 spaces.
The Services Conference to approve the definitive project and the changes made at the tender stage was concluded on 21 December 2012 with a positive outcome.
The commissioner order through which the Mayor approved the preliminary project was issued on 31 December 2012. It defined the destination of the areas and approved the expropriation plan related to the works project.
In January 2013, the awarding authority Roma Metropolitane ordered the simultaneous start of the final and executive design stages.
On 8 August 2013 the awarding authority Roma Metropolitane was submitted the final design, revised according to the instructions received from Roma Capitale, and its approval is expected in the first half of 2014.
With regard to real estate development, the City Council has not yet made the necessary urban planning variants so it is not possible to provide a construction start date.
Milan-Naples A1 Motorway, upgrading of the Apennine section between Sasso Marconi and Barberino di Mugello, the La Quercia-Aglio section
This initiative is for works to widen and modernise the A1 Motorway base tunnel – Lot 9-11 – Valico Bypass. This contract is part of the larger project being carried out by Autostrade per l’Italia S.p.A. to develop the A1 by building the Valico Bypass, in order to improve road conditions and reduce the time it takes to travel between Bologna and Florence. The most distinctive part of the Valico Bypass is the Galleria di Base: a tunnel with divided carriageways (160-m2 section, approximately 8.6 km long), which will connect the Emilia- Romagna and Tuscany regions, linking the future Badia Nuova service area in the north with the new Poggiolino junction to the south.
The works have been substantially completed with the exception of modest finishing interventions and some minor works to be carried out in the Tuscany Region, which are in custody pending the lifting of the suspension of work issued by the Project Manager (RUP).
In June 2011, following investigations started in 2005, the Public Prosecutor charged some employees/senior executives of Todini Costruzioni Generali S.p.A. (no longer part of the company), Autostrade per l’Italia S.p.A. and other contractors with environmental crimes allegedly committed in the course of construction works for the Valico Bypass.
Among the representatives of Todini Costruzioni Generali S.p.A., Mr. P. Salini, in his capacity as Managing Director in office at the date of the order, is among those under investigation.
By judgement of 5 November 2012, the Judge for the Preliminary Hearing:
- issued a decision of no case to answer with respect to CEO Pietro Salini for not having committed the offence;
- dropped the charges for the offences concerning water control and the management of wastewater for all the defendants;
- ordered that the defendants stand trial for the offences concerning the management of excavated earth and rocks and the damage of environmental assets.
On 26 March 2013, before the Court of Florence, the Italian Ministry of Environment joined the proceeding as plaintiff seeking damages from the parties liable under civil law, that is Todini C.G., Autostrade per l’Italia S.p.A., and the other contractors involved (in addition to the said defendants) by claiming damages “for equivalent assets” of no less than €810 million or such amount as the Court considers just and appropriate.
In support of the said claim, the Ministry of Environment enclosed a report signed by ISPRA (an Institute set up within the Ministry), then struck out at hearing on 9 December 2013 from the trial files, as the judge considered it a document that could not be produced because it was drawn up without hearing the defendants and did not bear the name of the author.
Considering that the plaintiff seeking damages did not call witnesses or consultants, the claim for damages is not currently supported by any evidence on the actual size thereof.
The preliminary phase started in January 2014. To date, no evidence has been examined concerning the alleged offences of Todini Costruttori, nor have any activities been conducted to determine the existence of the unlawful conduct and damage.
The Group denies any responsibility in the alleged charges, reaffirming the absolute legitimacy of its work and the groundless nature of the allegations. It also challenges the absolute abnormity of the claim for damages lodged by the Ministry of Environment, which, in addition to being formulated without any prior request for the adoption of the necessary measures for environmental restoration, also appears to not comply with Italian regulations and European Directive 2004/35/EC. In this regard, the European Commission has started an infringement procedure against Italy already in 2007 (No. 2007/4679), confirmed on 27 January 2012 with a supplementary reasoned opinion, which has recently led to the inclusion in Law 97 of 6 August 2013 of a series of amendments to the Consolidated Environment Act as per Legislative Decree 152 of 3 April 2006, including the elimination from Article 311 of Legislative Decree 152/2006 of the reference to claims for damages “for equivalent assets”, being environmental damage indemnifiable firstly through specific remedial measures.
In light of the above and of the opinions of its legal advisors, the Group considers the said claim for damages to be groundless and, consequently, that the risk of the granting of damages is remote. The management did not therefore deem it necessary to make any provision in the financial statements.
Construction of road infrastructure to replace the Capo Boi-Terra Mala S.S.125 trunk road
The construction of the road infrastructure replacing S.S. 125, from the junction of Capo Boi to the junction of Terra Mala in Sardinia, was completed in January 2013 and the work was handed over to the client on 20 March 2013 to be opened to traffic.
Final accounting is in progress in view of the provisional acceptance of the works.
Salerno – Reggio Calabria Motorway Project: Lots 5 and 6
The project relates to the improvement and upgrading of the last section of the Salerno - Reggio Calabria motorway, between Gioia Tauro and Scilla (Lot 5) and between Scilla and Campo Calabro (Lot 6). The subsidiary Impregilo is participating in the project with a 51% share.
With specific regard to Lot 5, major disputes had arisen with the client. These were positively resolved, but in the second half of last year, new critical situations have occurred. These are due to both the difficulty of obtaining the desired levels of productivity and to the social and environmental conditions that remain critical in the entire area of operation of the work sites, and have led to the need to revise the corresponding estimates in the quotation covering the entire life of the contract, resulting in losses, which were already fully reported in the income statement for the year 2012. In light of these considerations, during financial year 2013, there were no new critical elements requiring changes to the assessments already made.
Pedemontana Lombarda motorway
This contract involves the final and executive design and construction of the first section of the Como and Varese ring roads and the connector between the A8 and the A9 motorways (from Cassano Magnago to Lomazzo) with the construction of roughly 26 km of motorway and secondary roads, including about 7 km of tunnels.
In February 2010, the final designs were approved and Rider No. 1 was signed. In addition to determining the contract price of €880 million, it provided for and regulated the early execution of certain works and related executive designs without modifying the time plan set out in the contract. As well as the approval of the executive designs, an addendum to Rider no. 1 was agreed (increasing the work defined as early works) in December 2010 and the works were partly delivered on 7 December 2010.
However, starting from 2011 and throughout 2012, the client had increasing difficulties in meeting its contractual financial commitments. Nonetheless, the general contractor commenced construction as per the agreed work schedule and the procedures provided for by contract to safeguard itself in relation to the above difficulties. In this regard, during the first half of 2013, the client substantially overcame the financial difficulties mentioned above and during the current financial year, work is proceeding according to schedule. In particular, on 30 November 2013, as provided for in the contract documents, the link road between the A8 and A9 motorways can be considered as substantially completed.
Third lane of the A4 Venice - Trieste motorway (Quarto d’Altino - San Donà di Piave)
In November 2009, the joint venture led by Impregilo as lead contractor won the tender for the planning and execution of the works to widen the A4 Venice - Trieste motorway to three lanes between the municipalities of Quarto d’Altino and San Donà di Piave (VE). The contract is worth €224 million.
The works involve widening the motorway over a length of 18.5 km by building a third lane and include, in particular, the construction of two new viaducts with an overall length of about 1.4 km over the Piave River, the construction of four bridges, nine overpasses, four motorway underpasses and the rebuilding of the San Dona di Piave motorway exit.
Jonica Highway
At the end of 2011, Impregilo – in association with Astaldi – was awarded the tender called by ANAS (the Italian national roads authority) for the construction of the third maxi-lot of Jonica Highway No. 106 (SS-106) as general contractor. This contract is worth approximately
€791 million, of which 40% for Impregilo. The new infrastructure will stretch over 38.0 km from the junction with highway No. 534 (SS-534) to Roseto Capo Spulico (CS). The contract includes the construction of about 13 km of tunnels, 5 km of viaducts and 20 km of embankments as the main works. It is scheduled to take approximately seven years and eight months, including 15 months to develop the designs (final and executive) and for the preliminary work and the other six years and five months for actual construction.
Rome-Fiumicino motorway, construction of parallel roads and access roads
Construction work on the Rome-Fiumicino motorway section was completed in June 2011. The completion of some finishings, not interfering with the road bed, was postponed owing to a delay in receiving approval from the regional archaeological authority. Finally, on 21 March 2012, the client prepared the work completion report. The final inspections were completed successfully on 22 July 2013.
Naples, construction of a railway section for heavy underground transport, Piscinola- Secondigliano section
The civil engineering works on the Piscinola-Secondigliano railway section as part of the modernisation and upgrading of the Napoli-Alifana Railway were suspended in the second half of 2011 due to the client’s failure to make contractual payments, with the result that the only activities carried out involved safety measures at the work sites.
Although the client was aware of the strategic importance of the work for the completion of the circular system for Naples, it did not manage to meet its commitments because of financial difficulties affecting the Campania Region budget. These resulted in a lack of funds in the subsidiary Metrocampania Nordest S.r.l., making it extremely difficult to meet the payments due.
With regard to this situation, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, based Decree-Law 83 of 22 June 2012 (converted into Law 134 of 7 August 2012), appointed an Acting Commissioner with the task of looking into the extent of payables and receivables in companies operating in regional rail transport, in order to prepare a repayment plan.
At present it appears that the appointed Commissioner has completed his work in relation to the assessment and planning stage and the company is therefore waiting for his determinations.
Taking into consideration that, in order to ensure that the Commissioners’ activities be carried out, the above-mentioned Decree-Law established that executive works could be started or continued by companies operating in regional rail transport within 12 months from the coming into effect of Decree-Law 83, the subsidiary Todini Costruzioni launched all initiatives deemed necessary to exercise its rights acquired, while maintaining a collaborative relationship with the client, which still considers the lot in question as a priority for the effective operation of the circular metro system.
High-speed/capacity Milan - Genoa Railway Project
The project for the construction of this High-Speed/Capacity railway line from Milan to Genoa was assigned to Consorzio CO.C.I.V. as general contractor with the TAV (as operator on behalf of Ferrovie dello Stato)/CO.C.I.V. agreement of 16 March 1992. The subsidiary Impregilo is the project leader.
As described in previous years, this project’s pre-contractual stage has been complicated and difficult, with developments from 1992 to 2011 on various fronts, including many disputes.
Following enactment of Decree-Law 112/2008, converted into Law 133/2008, and the 2010 Finance Act, which provided for the contract to be split into construction lots, the parties resumed discussions to ascertain whether it was possible to start work again and to discontinue the claims for compensation under the ongoing dispute, as specifically provided for by the 2010 Finance Act.
The contract for the works on the Terzo Valico dei Giovi section of the high-speed/capacity Milan - Genoa railway line was signed in November 2011. The works assigned to the general contractor CO.C.I.V., led by Impregilo with a 64% interest, are worth about €4.8 billion. The first lot, already financed by CIPE for €500 million, includes works and activities worth €430 million. CIPE also assigned the funds for the second lot as per its resolution No. 86/2011, published in Italian Official Journal No. 65 of 17 March 2012. The Court of Auditors recorded the funding of the second lot (€1.1 billion) on 5 March 2012. CO.C.I.V. and RFI agreed to commence Lot 2, worth €617 million, on 23 March 2013.
The arbitration proceedings commenced in previous years for the legal recognition of the amounts due to the Consortium for activities performed prior to enactment of Decree-Law No. 112/2008, for which the Consortium had only recognised the costs actually incurred, were concluded in the Consortium’s favour in the first half of 2013. At the end of the arbitration proceeding, the Consortium was required to return the contractual advance received together with the default interest due thereon. It duly complied with this obligation at the start of the third quarter of 2013 by offsetting it against the amounts due to the Consortium, as a result of the above arbitration award, as provided for by the Rider to the Agreement of November 2011.
Lastly, the share of the CO.CIV Consortium was increased to 64% as a result of the finalisation of the agreements signed with the partner Technimont S.p.A. in September 2013.
Milan metro Line 4
The subsidiary Impregilo, leader and lead contractor of a joint venture consisting of Astaldi, Ansaldo STS, Ansaldo Breda, Azienda Trasporti Milanese (the Milan municipal transport company) and Sirti, was finally awarded the tender called by the City of Milan for the selection of a private partner in a public/private partnership, which will be granted a concession for the engineering, construction and subsequent operation of Line 4 of the Milan Metro. The new line, which will be fully automated (i.e., driverless), will cover a 15.2 km stretch from Linate to Lorenteggio. The contract includes the final and executive design and construction of two single-track tunnels, one in each direction, with 21 stations and a depot/workshop.
The investment, mainly for the civil works, the supply of technological services and mechanical equipment, amounts to about €1.7 billion, two thirds of which is financed by the Italian government and by the City of Milan.
In order to coordinate the construction work, Impregilo S.p.A. has established together with the private members only (Astaldi, Ansaldo STS, Ansaldo Breda and Syrtes) the MM4 Consortium, which, in turn, has awarded the construction of the civil works and non-system plants to the consortium partners Impregilo and Astaldi, which, in turn, have joined together into Metroblu S.c.r.l. with a 50% share each.
On 20 June 2013 SP M4 S.c.p.A. (project company incorporating the same partners that replaced the temporary joint venture) and the client signed the Addendum to the Ancillary Contract accessory that redefined the work schedule, limiting these to the ‘EXPO Section’ alone and increasing, inter alia, the total investment to about €1.8 billion.
Terni, public works as part of activities to complete the detailed “Zona Corso del Popolo” plan
Activities relating to the execution of public works in the Municipality of Terni to complete the detailed “Zona Corso del Popolo” plan were completed.
In the meantime, meetings with the client have continued to lay out and implement a new traffic plan aimed at increasing the use of the underground car park, whose management is the subject of a thirty-year concession contract.
Similarly, the private construction works have been completed up to 98%, including the exterior façades and ground floors used as business premises. Only some residual finishing works are to be finished, whose construction is planned for the end of the first quarter of 2014.
Terni, design, construction and management of a multi-purpose sports complex called “Le Piscine dello Stadio”
On 1 March 2012 a concession agreement was entered into with the municipal authorities of Terni, with a 29-year term, for the design, construction and management of a multi-purpose sports complex called “Le Piscine dello Stadio”. This initiative, which involves building indoor and outdoor swimming pools, fitness facilities, a commercial and refreshment area and an outdoor green space with public footpaths, is based on the use of modern technologies with a low environmental impact, as well as the rational and targeted use of alternative energy sources.
The earthworks, execution of the foundations and prefabricated structures were started.
Port of Ancona
On 18 December 2013, Salini Impregilo, as leader of a joint venture, was awarded the construction and operation of the road link between the Port of Ancona, the A14 motorway and “Adriatica” highway No. 16. The project is worth approximately €480 million, and the concession period will last 30 years from completion of works. The project under concession provides for total revenues for the infrastructure operation period equal to about €2,540 million. The project financing proposal submitted by the joint venture was declared of public interest by the Board of Directors of ANAS already in April 2008.
Works on the new facility will start in 2015, at the end of the procedure required for the execution and approval of the final project, and will be completed after 5 years. The new road has a total length of about 11 kilometres from the main and link roads, representing a strategic intervention to optimize the flow of traffic between the Port of Ancona, the city and the major roads, including the A14 motorway, and allowing for adequate growth in the logistics system of the City of Ancona centred on the port, intermodal freight terminal and airport.