MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio accused two big direct investors in the country, Indian steelmaker Arcelor Mittal (AS:MT) and local transport group Atlantia (MI:ATL), of trying to blackmail the government in separate disputes with Rome.
He made the comments on Friday after another minister, Matteo Salvini, lent some support to Atlantia in contrast to promises by Di Maio this week to revoke the group's motorway concession over a deadly bridge collapse in Genoa last year.
"If somebody wants to side with Atlantia or with Arcelor Mittal which are ... blackmailing the state and asking for legal immunity when (in the case of Arcelor) they are threatening to close the (steel) plant, I stand with the workers and we will never side with multinationals that blackmail the state," Di Maio said in a video posted on his Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) account.