The liquidator of the 'old' Alitalia said on Tuesday that he was ready to sue the Treasury in order to reimburse the defunct national carrier's creditors.
Augusto Fantozzi, the government-appointed administrator who first spun off and sold Alitalia's flight division and is now liquidating the carrier's remaining assets, said in a statement that ''if my lawyers tell me I must sue the Treasury, then I'll do it''.
The company's liquidator was responding to a suggestion from the Anima Sgr investment fund on behalf of Alitalia bondholders.
''Right now I have other priorities, I have to sell the assets, after which I will dedicate time to this possibility. If it is something I must do, then I will do it,'' Fantozzi told Italian radio.
''I don't want to get caught up in a political battle or get involved in something which is not my business. My job is to act according to the letter of the law,'' the administrator said.
''In any case, bondholders have the right to be compensated, also because many of them are company staff,'' he added.
Last month the government earmarked funds totalling 100 million euros to reimburse bondholders 32.5% of their bonds' value for a maximum of 100,000 euros.
This will be paid in Treasury savings certificates which mature in December 2012.
Turning his attention to Alitalia shareholders, Fantozzi said it was up to the economy ministry to decide whether they should get the same treatment as bondholders.
Last year Alitalia was split into a 'good' company, with its flight division and other key assets, and a 'bad' company, which took possession of Alitalia's remaining assets, including its cargo business and maintenance activities, and its debt, which was over two billion euros.
During the radio interview, Fantozzi said that Alitalia's bondholders and creditors numbered ''more or less 23,000 of which 19,000 are company employees.
The 'good' company was acquired by a group of Italian investors who launched a new, private airline with the Alitalia name and brought in Air France as the carrier's industrial partner.
