Good morning everyone.

I am very sorry that in the end I was not able to speak at Eni’s 70th celebrations in person. These are very complex days, but I nevertheless wanted to send my contribution to this initiative, which would have been a real pleasure for me to attend.

I wish to greet and thank Chairman Zafarana, Chief Executive Officer Descalzi, and all authorities attending this initiative. Special greetings and thanks go to Eni’s management team and employees, especially to all of them. This celebration is about you: Eni is the leading company it is today thanks to you, your work and your professionalism.

Celebrating the first 70 years of Eni does in fact also mean celebrating 70 years of our national history. In 1953, when Eni was founded, Italy was a very different country to the one it is today. The war had ended a few years before and the wounds were still deep. Yet the Italian people had already got back on their feet, they were rebuilding and laying the foundations for the economic miracle that would make Italy a global economic power.

We must remember that this was no easy challenge; many did not look kindly on the idea of Italy becoming a strong nation with an equally robust industrial system. Energy was one of the most difficult issues. The industries driving the economic miracle depended on energy sources that Italy was essentially poor in, coal especially, and it was crucial to scale back our energy dependence. Enrico Mattei was the first to understand this and, based on this intuition, he built a state-owned business able to compete with the world’s major oil companies and also dictate some rules to the oil and gas industry. Already in 1953, Eni was able to provide northern Italy’s ‘industrial triangle’ with the energy it needed: no longer coal, but methane, of which there was plenty in the Po Valley. This was a ‘new’ energy source that Italy and Europe were not used to using at the time. Thanks to that methane, Italy took off again and the State, with Eni, supplied energy at competitive prices, allowing our companies and producers to become competitive on the global market. This was a turning point that made Italy the industrial power it is today. 

Today, just like back then, the energy issue is strategic and undoubtedly will be increasingly so. The war in Ukraine has triggered a crisis from many points of view, also in terms of energy, but I am convinced that this crisis can also become an opportunity, as indeed is always the case. That opportunity can arise from our geographical position and from the leadership roles that companies like Eni have been able to build. We can aspire to become the whole of Europe’s natural energy supply hub and we can do this by using energy as the key to build an equal partnership with Africa and the wider Mediterranean that is beneficial for all. This is why energy is one of the building blocks of the ‘Mattei Plan’, through which we intend to combine Italy’s national interest with our partners’ right to experience a period of development and progress.

The energy issue is also crucial to give a fairer and more equitable direction to the ecological transition, which we believe must go hand in hand with social and economic sustainability. To achieve this, we need all technologies: those already in use, those we are experimenting with and those we are yet to discover. Renewables, gas, biofuels, hydrogen and carbon dioxide capture, as well as all those technologies that allow us to transform more and more from a linear to a circular economy. Then there is the great challenge of fusion energy: I know that Eni’s researches are working hard every day to make this incredible prospect of having an unlimited source of clean energy a reality.

Over the last 70 years, Eni has always been a point of reference for Italy, through good times and bad. It has accompanied our nation’s economic and social transformations, a bit like a travelling companion you know you can always rely on. We definitely still have a long way to go together, and my hope for you today is that you may continue carrying out your work with the same dedication and the same value that have enabled you to get here. I also want to tell you that the Italian Government will be by your side, always serving Italy and its national interest.

Thank you all, have a great day and all the best!

[Courtesy translation]