Eni Board Urges 'Continuity at Top'
Eni's board on February 28 made its formal recommendation to Eni shareholders, foremost among which is the Italian government with an indirect 30.1% stake, to retain the board including its current chief executive Claudio Descalzi.
Eni chairman Emma Marcegaglia told a press briefing March 1 of the communication to shareholders: "Our recommendation is very clear. We recommended to the shareholders the continuity of the CEO and of the board. Why? Because, as Claudio said, we think it did a wonderful job."
"In three years, we transformed the company from a costly conglomerate into an integrated modern company. This [process] now has to go on. We think it's very important to have continuity. This is a long term sector. What you decide today, you see the result in ten years." She indicated that any new CEO might need one to two years to get to grips with his/her new role whereas Eni's board is already now trying to implement its 2017-20 strategic plan.
Marcegaglia has chaired Eni since 2014 and is CEO and vice-chairman of Mantua-based international steel processor Marcegaglia Holding.
The power to hire and fire an ENI CEO normally rests with the Italian finance ministry, which holds a 4.34% direct stake in the Italian oil and gas major. However the state's majority-owned investment fund Cassa Depositi e Prestiti holds a further 25.76% Eni interest.
Economics professor and former OECD chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan became Italy's economy and finance minister in February 2014 and has now served under two centre-left prime ministers (Photo credit: Italian government)
The current Eni board was appointed with a three-year mandate in May 2014, a mandate that comes up for renewal this spring.
Descalzi became CEO in May 2014 but crucially was upstream chief operating office from 2008 to 2014 and as such is under investigation by Milan prosecutors for alleged corrupt payments relating to the OPL 245 block in Nigeria. He denies any wrongdoing and Eni's board on February 28 affirmed "its total confidence that neither the company or its CEO Claudio Descalzi were involved in alleged illicit conduct under investigation.”
Mark Smedley