The anguish of small Italian bosses in the face of soaring gas and electricity prices
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On August 30, the Confederation of Italian Enterprises, an organization that brings together 80,000 SMEs from the Peninsula, organized an online seminar, bringing together economists and trade unionists. The topic addressed: the consequences of the energy crisis on the Italian entrepreneurial fabric. Enough to make the atmosphere gloomy to say the least. “With a 450% increase in prices over the past year, it’s like working with a gun to your head”, alarmed Carlos Sorrentino, secretary general of the confederation.
It’s time for an emergency, reminded the leaders of this group of small bosses. According to them, 120,000 companies are threatened with bankruptcy in Italy due to soaring energy costs, and no less than 370,000 jobs are at stake. According to confederation calculations, energy expenditure , gas and electricity combined will amount to 33 billion euros this year, just for the tertiary sector alone, three times more than in 2021.
Unsurprisingly, companies in energy-intensive sectors are the most affected. In Cività Castellana, in the province of Viterbo (Lazio), the cradle of the Italian ceramic industry, dozens of family businesses are currently living in fear. For some SMEs, energy suppliers asked for advances to ensure the payment of bills. The boss of Olympia, a company of forty employees, had to borrow 300,000 euros at the request of ENI, the Italian energy group. “If we had not granted this request, they would have closed our taps”he told the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano.
Penalized by the competition
In several companies in the region, the ceramic kilns have been turned off pending government measures. From 20,424 euros for the month of July 2021, Olympia’s gas bill rose to more than 110,000 euros in July from This year. Like many other Italian SMEs, the ceramic companies of Cività Castellana export a large part of their production and are penalized by the competition. “The Germans, Turks or Spaniards can count on a gas price cap. All of this risks pushing us out of the market.”worries the head of Olympia.
Among the most affected sectors is also the tourism industry. Even if since the spring Italy has been full of holidaymakers, returning to pre-pandemic levels, many companies in the sector are sounding the alarm, the increases being so strong that they cannot be passed on. entirely on tourists. Marina Lalli, president of Federturismo, the tourism branch within Confindustria, the Italian employers’ association, asked that the question of the cost of energy be at the top of the proposals of the candidates for the next elections on September 25.
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