Centrale del Latte, the Secretary Canti replies to the Board of Directors
With reference to the last statement issued by the President of the Sammarinese Milk Agricultural Cooperative on the SmRtv broadcaster, following the publication of Resolution No. 41 of January 31st, I believe it is right to justify the reasons for this refusal. First of all, I believe it is useful to highlight how on each application presented, the Government is required to express itself in full compliance with the Laws or Regulations in force and how, in addition, in the specific case of that presented by the “Cooperativa Agricola Latte Sammarinese”, the Government is is expressed in full compliance with the agreement and subsequent signed contracts. Starting from this consideration, one of the criticalities found in the application presented by the “Cooperativa Agricola Latte Sammarinese” is that relating to the entry of new members. The entry of new members (as proposed in the application presented) would be an intermediate and preparatory phase for the transformation of the Cooperative. The new companies, whose legal form is more functional for the foreign market, or the company that took over the management of the Central Milk Company, the equipment owned by the Excellency Chamber as well as the right to exploit the “Eurolatte ”And the“ Centrale del Latte della Repubblica di San Marino ”company.
This aspect was recognized as a highly critical profile, which did not allow the acceptance of the proposal presented, as the agreement signed on October 14, 2015, in the first paragraph of Article 18, “obliges the Cooperative not to sell to third parties the set of corporate assets making up the San Marino Milk Center including the right to exploit the “Eurolatte” trademark and the “Centrale del Latte” company as well as the express building subject to concession in use without the prior authorization of the State Congress “. Furthermore, according to the paragraph of the same article 18, it reads verbatim: “the aforementioned contracts and all rights on the building cannot in any case be transferred to subjects operating outside the large dairy distribution”.
Under the water from the legal form used (cooperative or company), the decision to undertake an entrepreneurial project that focuses on the marketing of dairy products abroad – with the entry of new members as per the proposal presented on January 17 – is prefigured as a violation of article 18 of the convention, therefore, in the light of this conventional provision, it is evident that the transfer of contracts in favor of the new corporate entity (which operates mainly in the foreign market) was not accepted by the Congress of State in contracted with article 18 of the agreement and article 23 of the subsequent concession contract for the use of the property and all corporate assets and how the overcoming of this provision can take place exclusively through the procedure of a new agreement. Furthermore, the entry of new members into the cooperative (in the forms indicated in the application presented), should distort the principle of agricultural cooperation implemented, among other things, in the statute of the cooperative where it provides that the activity of the “Cooperativa Agricola Latte Sammarinese “is a direct contribution to the cultivation of their land. Finally, remaining the residue of the members already present in the cultivation of their land of products coming from the members and placed in the cooperative) a further criticality is that relating to the doubts of compatibility between the legal form of the cooperative – with related incentives, loans and mortgages at a subsidized rate and guaranteed by the State, which by law are insured to agricultural cooperatives – and the real nature of the economic activity carried out which seems to be more compatible with a society with for profit and not to the logic of cooperation that keeps the San Marino supply chain alive, also favoring the commercialization of the tte fresh vaccine and dairy products processed within the territory.
In light of the higher criticalities found, the State Congress with Resolution No. 41 of January 31st did NOT accept the request of January 17, 2022 presented by the “Cooperativa Agricola Latte Sammarinese” and ordered that – if the availability of members of the Cooperativa Agricola Latte Sammarinese under the conditions to be agreed – a public tender must be issued for the concession of the property to be used as distinct from the cadastral map sheet 19 parcel n.137, of the complex of corporate assets constituting the Centrale del Latte and a new agreement with the contractor or individual identified to be approved with subsequent resolution The Congress of State is open to new investors, especially if they are aimed at supporting companies in difficulty and, in the specific case of the cooperative (I want to reaffirm it again), it is necessary to do so by following the principles referred to in Article 49, paragraph 2 of Law No. 174 of 20 December 2013, which requires that the identification of the new contractor must take place, in compliance with the criteria of transparency and equal treatment, by means of a public procedure as the State is directly involved with the ownership of the property, company assets and brands.
Stefano Canti (Secretary of State for the Territory, Environment, Agriculture, Civil Protection and relations with AASLP): “I understand the private part when she says she is” disconcerted “in learning the denial of the application presented, but it is among the duties of the representatives of the institutions it does not accept the applications presented in contrast to the laws, regulations, agreements and contracts signed, just as I believe it is useful to continue with a fair discussion in order to find the right and best solution to solve the critical issues of the cooperative with respect to the release of statements in the press.