Crt Foundation, Fabrizio Palenzona elected new president

Fabrizio Palenzona is the new president of the Crt Foundation. The former vice president of Unicredit was voted by the majority of the advisors, with 10 preferences. Defeated the current president Giovanni Quaglia who, after six years, was aiming for confirmation. A tug of war that lasted for months which ended with a clear victory by Palenzona, Prelios’ number one, a position he will continue to hold. On the eve of the outgoing president Quaglia continued to show confidence. Instead, he only got one vote more than the six signatures he had collected under his candidacy, presented in the morning. The same acronyms that lined up the entrepreneur from Alessandria who, however, then filled up among the five directors who did not take sides.

The role of the institutions will also need to be understood, starting with the tandem made up of the president of the Region, Alberto Cirio, and the mayor of the Municipality of Turin, Stefano Lo Russo. They did not take sides, thus leaving a free hand for their advisers. Quaglia will now have to leave the chair to his former friend and teacher. Both come from DC school. Will there be a consolation prize for the outgoing? It depends if Palenzona, who carried on the battle with determination, wants to win alone or win big. Certainly in via XX Settembre also the general secretary, Massimo Lapucci, to whom many attribute the responsibility of having sided the foundation with the Caltagirone consortium in the battle for the leadership of Generali, is thinking of packing his bags.

The profile of Palenzona

Born in Novi Ligure, in the province of Alessandria, on 1 September 1953, Palenzona, nicknamed the truck driver from Tortona, has always been close to the group and the Gavio family, with whom relations have cooled off a bit in recent years. It’s quicker to say what Palenzona didn’t do. He was a banker, for several years vice president of Unicredit and director of Mediobanca, position left in 2012. He was president of Aiscat and Asecap, the Italian and European associations of motorway concessionaires, and of Rome Airports, as well as that of Conftrasporto. Politics is also central to the life of Palenzona. He was part of the ACLI, of the DC, he belonged to the current of Carlo Donnat-Catin, he was his teacher, then he joined La Margherita. He is considered to be from the centre-left area. From 1985 to 1995 he was mayor of Tortona. From 1995 to 2004 president of the province of Alessandria. Various judicial investigations have touched him in recent years, but have never overwhelmed him.

Budget approved

Before voting for the new president, the Steering Committee had unanimously approved the record budget: surplus for the year 2022 of 127.2 million euros (+42.6% compared to 89.2 million in 2021), position net financial position rose to 569 million (+73.4%), invested assets in excess of 3 billion, disbursement stabilization fund corresponding to three disbursement years with 157.5 million euro. The best balance of the last ten years, as well as one of the best ever, was unanimously approved a month ago by the board of directors.

“The unanimous recognition by the Steering Committee of the excellent financial results demonstrates that the Foundation has worked excellently in an extremely complex global scenario, significantly contributing to the growth and development of the north-west and of the country”, said Quaglia. “These financial statements are the result of an effective asset and financial management strategy built over the medium-long term, accompanied in the last year by elements of particular significance: the success of the Atlantia takeover bid, the return to capital gains by Unicredit, the 30% increase in dividends from shareholdings”, added the Secretary General Massimo Lapucci.