Speak Sergio Cusani, former advisor of the owner of Montedison
"I'll tell you my friend Gardini shot himself to protect Ferruzzi"
"Of course, it was a proud. Of course, he did not resign himself to the humiliation of prison. But I am convinced that Raul Gardini committed suicide in particular to take over , with an extreme gesture of defense, the shame of the charges were about to invest Ferruzzi. And, in particular, it was to love for his daughter Eleanor. They were very attached and she doted on her father. " That July 23, 1993, a Friday, Sergio Cusani lost a friend. And his life was shattered forever. He began the day at the funeral of Gabriele Cagliari, the former chairman of Eni that three days before he committed suicide in prison with a choking plastic bag. During the funeral, he learned that Cusani Gardini took his own life. And three o'clock in the afternoon, he found himself in jail on the orders of the Prosecutor of Milan. Ten years later, the former financier, the man of Ferruzzi, the operator of the tangent Enimont big parties, has come to settle his account with the law. A heavy price. Of all the protagonists of the story Enimont (bankers, managers of state, industrialists, politicians) he is the one who has suffered the heaviest penalty: 5 years and 6 months, four of them spent in solitary. Now, ten years away from that shot that ended the life of his friend Raul, Cusani recounts his memories through the road that led to that tragic choice. It tells of wars and financial ordinary family disputes. And from his point of view includes an overview of bitter experience of Clean Hands. Dr. Cusani, when he met for the last time Gardini?
"A few days before his suicide. He was tried, mentally and physically. I kept on the grill." Who?
"The Milan prosecutor's office. The magistrates refused to meet him. Other entrepreneurs whether they were escaped with a meeting and memorial. Gardini A this was not allowed even though his lawyers insist it was going to make spontaneous statements as had happened to other financiers and industrial. "
And why was this fury just to Gardini?
"He was considered a ring weakness of Italian capitalism. After breaking with the Ferruzzi family had lost much of its power, had no political backing and had no means of mass communication. In short, it was vulnerable. On the other hand Gardini was obtained by hitting a big media impact. "
Can you explain better?
" Exactly. Raul was a character of great popularity. A little 'thanks to the Moor of Venice and the Americas Cup. And then for his impetuous nature. In the collective imagination was the contractor who had dared to challenge the parties and as a giant Eni.
Gardini stop you saying that the food served to newspapers and television?
"What I perceived at once, but I gained during my detention is that the "Clean Hands" investigation was based on the effect the media and every day was provided fresh meat. "
There were also the crimes or not?" Certainly. I myself have accepted my responsibility and I was ready to talk about the perverse relationship between industry and politics. I was told that was not interested. I had to respond to false accounting and illegal financing of political parties. The processes, however, should be used to prosecute crime, but also to reveal the mechanisms of corruption in order to prevent their recurrence. This objective, unfortunately, was not prosecuted. "
Why?
" In part because the judiciary has also played a battle of power. In part because judges like Dr. Antonio Di Pietro did not have enough determination and perhaps lacked the technical and cultural tools to understand these hidden mechanisms. A magistrate prepared as Dr. Francesco Greek, but those tools that they have, in fact it was put aside. "
In the weeks before the suicide Gardini was trying to back into the game by combining its operations with those of the Ferruzzi and Cragnotti. How did? "We worked hard on that project. The objective of the management of Carlo Sama, who became leader of the Ferruzzi after the release of Gardini, was to bring together all the focus sull'agroalimentare. Eridania was to become the holding company of the group. It was a return to origins agribusiness. But the banking system, led by Mediobanca, we denied its support. In those days all the major institutions closed their exposures of the Ferruzzi group. It was a clear signal: our project had to fail. Lost that opportunity, was the collapse ".
She was alongside each other throughout the Gardini Enimont. What does it mean for him?
" It was a stinging defeat. It went very experienced in body and mind. Somatization and suffered the defeat hard. He was in love with the dream of a strong Italian chemicals worldwide. This, Raul was the project Enimont.
Enimont but was also the mother of all bribes, as first revealed to the judges the former president Montedison Giuseppe Garofano. A confession of a few hours that preceded the suicide of Gardini.
"Gardini had no no problem to pay for the parties to achieve its goals. As far as I said all political forces, with the exception of the radicals, have received funding from the Ferruzzi group. This does not mean that Raul did not believe really that project. "
The fact remains that the pole of the chemical was the screen behind which were consumed financial raids of any kind.
'It is true. And I should know. But I also know that since financial markets were in fact an unregulated Wild West. And the policy to regulate the finance avoided because it had a direct benefit in terms funding occult. Now, more than ten years later, poles these regulations have been planted. Many recent events, however, seem to suggest that in recent years, supervisors have been distracted in more than one occasion. "
Wore Enimont?
" Initially the operation Enimont only served to remove some of Montedison chemical activities unprofitable . Then, when he reached an agreement with Eni, Gardini realized that the chemistry could mean in terms of power and could create value by combining the companies how Enimont Himont Ausimont and remained in Montedison.
So what? " He felt more than a protagonist. And the constant media exposure perhaps helped him lose a sense of proportion. I remember one day walking I said, 'You know, the most photographed man of the year. " I laughed, I took it for a joke. He was offended and said curtly: "Look, I'm not joking," he said. Gardini was a man of a very impulsive. Culture typically Romagna with anarchist and anti-system components. He was a batsman free. He had a step backward in the battle over eco-ethanol gasoline (those derived from corn) that questioned the power of multinational oil companies. And sull'Enimont did not hesitate. Relaunched at the end and always stood against all parties. "
everything?
" Yes everyone, including Craxi, which at first was in favor of the escalation Gardini chemistry. I am convinced that in a second stage Craxi prevailed in the fear of delivering too much power in the hands of a family in a country where capitalism was already dominated by families. "
Against this backdrop, the story of Enimont could not finish evil.
"And I'm convinced that it was a disaster for the country system that has lost the opportunity to retain a globally competitive chemical industry. What little is left of the national chemical has swallowed thousands of billions of public money without any concrete results. It 's a decline similar to what is being also the automotive sector. Right now the Bank of solidarity I have promoted is working closely with this issue as a consultant to Fiom-CGIL. The union wants the salvation of Fiat, a big collective heritage. We have therefore proposed a way out that would merge the new Fiat and the Agnelli family holding companies of both the Dutch holding company that controls Fiat Auto. A break with the past in order to focus all resources on the revitalization of the car. "
Vittorio Malagutti
