Gruppo Riva
| File:Riva group logo.png | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Steel |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Founder | Adriano and Emilio Riva |
| Headquarters | Milan, Italy |
|
Key people
|
Emilio Riva , Chairman Fabio Riva, CEO |
| Products | Hot rolled flat steel Bars Iron rod Slabs |
| Revenue |  € 11.261 billion (2008) |
| € 0.738 billion (2008) |
|
| € 0.503 billion (2008) |
|
| Total equity | € 4.502 billion (2008) |
|
Number of employees
|
24,151 (2008) |
| Website | www.rivagroup.com |
| Footnotes / references [1] |
|
Gruppo Riva is an Italian steel producer. After the Arcelor-Mittal merger and the takeover of Corus by Tata Steel, the group is currently the world’s eighteenth and Europe's third largest steel producer.[2] Riva Group (consisting of two companies, Riva Acciaio and Ilva) is private-owned and the whole shareholders' equity is held by the Riva family, through the financial institution "Riva FIRE" (which stands for "Finanziaria Industriale Riva Emilio").
Contents
History
Riva Acciaio was founded in 1954 in Milan by Adriano and Emilio Riva as an iron scrap trading business. In 1957 the first Riva Acciaio mini-mill was built in Caronno Pertusella near Varese. A few years later, this plant became the first steelworks in Italy to use continuous casting, in partnership with steel plant engineer Danieli. In the 1960s and 1970s Riva expanded by means of the acquisition of several small steel producers in Northern Italy and Spain (Siderurgica Sevillana). Starting from the 80s, Riva took part in the privatization process of the ailing European steel industry[3] by making further acquisitions in the main European countries such as Italy (the previously state-owned steelworks Acciaierie di Cornigliano in Genoa), Belgium (Charleroi-Marcinelle plant) and France (Alpa plant in Gargenville).[4] In 1992 it acquired directly from the German Treuhandanstalt two important plants (Brandenburger Elektrostahlwerke and Henningsdorfer Elektrostahlwerke) in the former German Democratic Republic.[5] In 1995 Riva Acciaio purchased ILVA from the Italian government, becoming one of the main European steel producers.
Due to the important role played in the privatization of the European steel industry, Emilio Riva was awarded the Grand Cross of Merit by the King of Belgium (2000), the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2002) and the French Legion of Honour (2005).[6] Étienne Davignon, former European Commissioner and Vice-president of the European Commission, has defined Emilio Riva as “prophet of this dynamic and optimistic vision of private enterprise”, affirming that “steelmaking is not an industry like the others, and the Riva group is not an industrial group like the others”.[7]
Facilities
The Ilva plant in Taranto is the largest steelworks in Europe, equipped with five blast furnaces. Riva Acciaio's headquarters are in Milan, and facilities are located in Northern Italy (Caronno Pertusella, Verona, Sellero, Lesegno).
Criticism
Taranto Plant
On March 8, 2006 the Court of Cassation convicted Emilio Riva to 18 months granting conditional leniency, with regard to events occurred from December 1997 to November 1998 related to an attempted illegal coercion of some ILVA employees which Emilio Riva had been charged with others.[8]
On June 16, 2010 the Court of Cassation declared the extinction because of the statute of limitations of all the violations which Emilio Riva, among others, had been charged with, as to the events occurred from July 2000 to September 2002 related to the supposed violation of anti-pollution regulations in the management of the ILVA factory of Taranto.[9]
Genoa Plant
On January 19, 2009 the Court of Appeal of Genoa declared null and void the first instance’s verdict related to the charge of pollution and declared the extinction because of the statute of limitations of the other minor charges which Emilio Riva and two of his sons had been charged with in the management of the ILVA factory of Genoa, with regard to events occurred from 1995 to 2002 related to the violation of anti-pollution regulations.[10]
See also
- List of steel producers
- Thy-Marcinelle, Belgian subsidiary
- Ilva Taranto, Belgian subsidiary
- History of the Riva Group since 1954
- Official web site Ilva Taranto plant
- Official web site School project Ilva Taranto
- Official web site Centro Studi Ilva Taranto
References
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ See Stephan Moinov, Privatization in the iron and steel industry, International Labour Office, Geneva 1995, pp. 33-78.
- ↑ (2) M. Affinito, M. De Cecco, A. Dringoli, Le privatizzazioni dell’industria manifatturiera italiana, Roma 2000, pp. 83-84.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.rivagroup.com/en/the_group/emilio_riva
- ↑ Étienne Davignon, Foreword to Riva 1954-1994, a cura di Margherita Balconi, Milan 1995, p. 2.
- ↑ Source: Decision n. 31413/2006 by the Court of Cassation on March 8th, 2006.
- ↑ Source: Decision n. 33170/2010 by the Court of Cassation on June 16th, 2010.
- ↑ Source: Decision n. 139/2009 by the Court of Appeal of Genoa on January 19th, 2009.
- (Italian)—Margherita Balconi, La siderurgia italiana 1945-1990: tra sostegno pubblico ed incentivi del mercato, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1990
- (Italian)—Le privatizzazioni in Italia, Milan, Mediobanca Ricerche e Studi, 2000
