CFI, more interventions and investments in Coop to get out of the crisis

In the year in which the country experienced the worst recession ever known in peacetime, with a consistent fall in GDP, investments, consumption and household disposable income, the cooperative enterprises in which CFI participated are certainly not immune from the crisis. , but they prove resilient and have important strengths that make them capable of intercepting the factors and opportunities for recovery. This is what emerges from the 2020 Budget approved at the ordinary shareholders’ meeting of Cfi-Coopera Finanza Impresa. An assembly in which the company – today the only financial company owned and supervised by the Mise which aims to promote the birth and development of cooperative enterprises – celebrated its 35th anniversary, presenting the important results achieved during the year which has just ended. Results that further emphasize the role of a specialized institutional investor such as Cfi in supporting the mutual economy, called upon to work to shorten the distance between cooperative enterprises and the financial resources indispensable for their development.During 2020, the Board of Directors and the Committee executive approved 55 new interventions (compared to 31 interventions in 2019) for 13.2 million euros, of which 2.2 as participation in the share capital, 4.9 as subordinated loans, 1.1 as medium / long-term loans, 1 , 9 as subsidized loans of the ‘Nuova Marcora’ and, finally, 3.1 million for the new activity concerning the subsidized loans for the cooperation of the Basilicata Region. The average value of the interventions increased, going from 172,000 euros in 2019 to 240,000 euros in 2020. Net of the 14 interventions carried out with funds from Basilicata, the 41 remaining resolutions concerned the northern regions for 57%, the regions of South for 23% and the central regions for 20%. The types of intervention were mainly support for WBO operations (for 66%), the development of investee companies (for 31%), and for the residual part consolidation and support operations for the start-up of new cooperative enterprises. In addition to the new interventions, the company approved moratoriums, facilitations and concessions to companies already invested in for an additional 14.9 million euros. At the end of the year, the company’s overall investments in support of the development of investee cooperatives reached a value of 77.2 million euros, of which 63 with own resources and 14.2 through the use of third-party funds under management (Mise and Basilicata Region) During 2020, the scope of action of the Marcora finance company was significantly expanded. On the one hand, by providing for its direct role in the implementation of national and regional subsidy measures and identifying it as the subject appointed to provide technical assistance to the crisis tables opened at the Mise. On the other hand, 2020 saw the significant refinancing of the ‘Nuova Marcora’ Fund, for a good 45 million euros and the complete rewriting of this aid scheme to make it even more responsive to the needs of cooperative enterprises. carry out in the period May-December 2021 between 55 and 60 interventions, in addition to the 7 already approved in the first four months, for an amount of 20 million euros. In the period 2021-2022, total investments of 40 million euros are assumed. “The 2020 balance sheet closes Cfi’s 35 years of life – comments the President, Mauro Frangi – And it closes them in the name of growth. Growth in loans made to support the development of participated cooperative enterprises and, therefore, the employment they guarantee. But, even more, growth of the role recognized and attributed to the company and, therefore, of the challenges to which it is called. “” New challenges – concludes Cfi CEO Camillo De Berardinis – to which the company intends to respond with the 2021 business plan / 2022 which provides for important interventions and investments. The reflection started and the proposals presented arise from the awareness that the new tasks entrusted to CFI require not only an adaptation of the organizational model but also a change of pace and a different management approach “. During the Assembly, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Economic Development with responsibility for cooperation, Anna Ascani who recalled the “crucial role that CFI has had and will have in the coming years”. “Cfi’s work – underlined Ascani – has been and is precious above all in this particular historical moment. The Wbo is one of the most important ways to ensure that business management is positive and that it enhances businesses regenerated by workers. The most important support given by CFI – concluded the undersecretary – is not only financial support, but also not to make workers feel alone and to support them in business risk “. According to the co-president of the Alliance of Italian Cooperatives, Maurizio Gardini, “it must be recognized that CFI represents a virtuous model of support for businesses”. “Cfi – stated Gardini – has shown that he knows how cooperatives are made, how they are promoted and how they are supported. The results achieved in 2020 and the challenges for 2021 fill us with pride but also with responsibility ”. “We are not the exclusive answer at this moment – concluded Gardini – but we have the ambition to support parts of the economy that have become fragile with the health and economic emergency”.