"I gave a mandate to the Secretary general of the Foreign ministry to summon the ambassador of the Russian Federation to Italy". He said in a message on X the Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani reporting that the Government asks for clarification on the issue of the nationalization of the Ariston Thermo Group. Also working with Brussels, in connection with Germany", according to Tajani.

The position of the Italian Government comes after the unexpected decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin who signed a decree for the temporary transfer of the Russian subsidiaries of the Italian Ariston and the German Bosch to the Russian Gazprom Domestic Systems, companies of the state-owned group Gazprom manufacturer of household appliances. 

The decree was posted on the official portal for legal information and reads: "Vladimir Putin signed the Executive Order on the amendment of the list of movable and immovable property, securities and shares of the authorized capital of Russian legal persons and property rights for which temporary management was introduced, approved by Executive Order No. 302 of the President of the Russian Federation of 25 April 2023. According to the executive order, 100% of the shares in the authorised capital of Ariston Thermo Rus, owned by Ariston Holding N.V., and BSH Home Appliances (Bosh), owned by BSH Hausgerate GmbH, were transferred to the temporary management of Gazprom Household Systems".

The measure, therefore, concerns Ariston Thermo Rus LLC, controlled by Ariston Holding, and BSH Household Appliances LLC, controlled by BSH Hausgerate GmbH. The reasons for the decision are not known although, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russia has placed under "temporary management" the assets of a number of Western companies, justifying these moves as retaliation for the actions of other countries against Russian companies, sanctioned.

The Ariston group, "industrially active in the Russian Federation for almost 20 years and with very correct relations with local institutions, has not been informed in advance of the decree and is extremely surprised by this initiative -explains a note from the Italian company-. Pending explanations on the unexpected measure, we are evaluating the implications, including from the point of view of governance and management".

Last year, we remember, Putin signed a similar decree for the temporary transfer of the management of the Russian branches of Danone and Carlsberg to the federal agency for property management, Rosimushchestvo. As for the case of Ariston and Bosch, however, the management is transferred, always "temporarily", to another industrial group, although controlled by the government.

In the case of Carlsberg and Danone, the measure was adopted after the French company and the Danish company announced their intention to exit the Russian market. More difficult, instead, to understand the ratio of the participation of Putin in the case of the company of household appliances of the group that makes head to the honorary president Francesco Merloni and to the executive president Paolo Merloni. 

"We are very embittered from the initiative taken from the Russian authorities -Merloni reported from the Corsera emphasizes-. We decided to keep our assets in the Russian Federation to protect our investments and the future of people who for over 20 years have lived professionally the values of our group. We are actively working with legal advisors and authorities to understand what to do". 

Just with Paolo Merloni, the ministry of Enterprises announces, "the minister Adolfo Urso has had a telephone conversation for a comparison on the current situation and to express the proximity of the Government, ready to protect the company in every location".