By Liam Moloney
ROME--Pier Luigi Bersani, the center-left candidate who is
leading Italian polls ahead of the general election, Thursday said
it would be crazy to sell the country's biggest publicly-controlled
companies, such as Finmeccanica SpA (FNC.MI) and Eni SpA (E),
despite their involvement in corruption probes.
"I say no, I say that at this moment it would be mad, based on
what they are worth, that we touch Eni, Finmeccanica and Enel SpA
(ENEL.MI)," said Mr. Bersani in an interview broadcast by channel
La7.
"What we must do is, on the other hand, clean them up, manage
them well," said Mr. Bersani.
Finmeccanica's board Wednesday moved quickly to replace Giuseppe
Orsi as chief executive of the Italian aero-defense group after his
arrest in a bribery probe, naming the company's chief operating
officer in his place. Mr. Orsi denies any wrongdoing and
Finmeccanica has expressed support for him.
Italy is slated to hold general elections Feb. 24-25. Public
opinion polls currently suggest that the center-left coalition
headed by Mr. Bersani could win a majority in the lower house of
parliament, while it is difficult to predict the outcome of the
senate as it has a complex voting system.
Milan prosecutors put under investigation Eni and its CEO Paolo
Scaroni in their probe into whether Eni-controlled oil services
company Saipem SpA (SPM.MI) paid bribes on some Algerian contracts.
Mr. Scaroni, Eni and Saipem deny any wrongdoing and haven't been
charged.
In a separate television interview Thursday, the head of the
center-right bloc, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi,
criticized as "pure masochism" prosecutors' probes into the
international contracts of its publicly-controlled companies.
"We don't want to pay commissions? then we need to stay home,"
said Mr. Berlusconi, adding that in certain countries that is the
only way to win contracts.
Write to Liam Moloney at liam.moloney@dowjones.com