Cortina Olympic cable car contract rigged: three under investigation, searches across Italy
The Belluno Public Prosecutor's Office suspects bid-rigging in relation to the Apollonio Socrepes cable car. Among those under investigation is Fabio Massimo Saldini, chief executive of Simico.
Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics, investigations into the incomplete cable car contract
The Public Prosecutor's Office of Belluno has opened an investigation into the assignment of work for the Apollonio Socrepes cable car at Cortina d'Ampezzo, a project connected to the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and still unfinished. This is reported by ANSA Cronaca.
The alleged offence is bid-rigging. Three people are listed in the register of those under investigation, including Fabio Massimo Saldini, chief executive of Società Infrastrutture Milano Cortina (Simico).
Concurrently, searches have been carried out at the headquarters of Simico and companies linked to it in multiple cities: Rome, Milan, Brescia, Naples and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Among those searched is Graffer, the company to which the work was awarded.
The chief prosecutor of Belluno, Massimo De Bortoli, explained that a timetable for questioning those under investigation has not yet been set. First, the collection of documentation, including digital material, must be completed in order to reconstruct the entire matter.
Simico stated in a statement that it had "immediately guaranteed the widest and complete collaboration with the investigative authorities", adding that it had placed itself "entirely at the disposal of the judicial authority, providing and continuing to provide all requested information with transparency, promptness and a spirit of full cooperation".
A troubled project from the outset
The original project envisaged a new cable car system with a departure station in the "Apollonio" car park and a terminal station in the Socrepes area, designed to facilitate public access to some of the Olympic venues. The package included an underground car park with commercial services and a "people mover" to connect the Tofane and Faloria slopes. These latter interventions were subsequently excluded due to incompatibility with the planned schedule.
Even the construction of the cable car alone encountered difficulties: the geological instability of the ground intended for the cable system's pylons made design amendments necessary, which drove up costs.
According to the Prosecutor, behind these events there would be collusion or fraudulent conduct intended to deliberately favour Graffer over competing companies, taking advantage of the possibilities offered by the direct award procedure.
The Ministry defends Simico
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has taken a position in favour of the company. "In due respect for the investigations", a ministry statement reads, "we are confident that, in order to guarantee the success of the Milan-Cortina Olympics, all rules have been complied with, despite the tight schedules that imposed very rapid work".
Source: ANSA Cronaca