Ancona.– The more time passes the more the Agency for Tourism and Internationalization of the Marche (Atim) confirms itself as an instrument of dubious transparency. The latest news appearing in the local press regarding a strange series of direct foster care has pushed the assembly group of the Democratic Party to take stock of the situation by calling a press conference opened by the screening of some videos shot during the week and on different days which show the current Atim offices, located in the headquarters of the Ancona Chamber of Commerce, completely empty during service hours despite the Agency’s organic plan providing for 12 work units.
“Here we are no longer just talking about a useless political bandwagon – stated the regional group leader Anna Casini – which has also been the subject of severe findings recently made by the Court of Auditors, but about a driving force of waste, assignments, sponsorship contracts and direct assignments which do nothing but lengthen the shadows over an Agency which has become the symbol of the squandering of public money by the Acquaroli council”.
Regional councilor Micaela Vitri listed the numbers that would seem to open Pandora’s box: “After the harsh criticisms expressed by the Court of Auditors, which defined the relations between the regional council and Atim as “an inextricable jumble of documents and directives”, or hundreds and hundreds of provisions that no one is able to verify because they do not appear in the budget, we felt the duty to delve deeper and try to shed light on what has been happening within the Agency for two years now. What we discovered is the leakage of a significant flow of money which from the council’s budget, passes through Atim, takes the road to Rome, and partly to Milan, through a series of direct assignments, justified by the fact that there would have been no other bodies, businesses or companies interested in carrying out the requested services.”
The Dem councilor cites three cases. One concerns the exhibition “Popes and Saints of the Marches in Castel Sant’Angelo”, organized in the capital and currently still underway, with the payment of 366 thousand euros to the COR company of Rome for the setup and promotion. The second concerns the “La Vendemmia 2024” event, which took place in Milan from 7 to 10 October, which saw the awarding of 102 thousand euros to the eMMeventi company with registered office in Bergamo.
“Is it possible that in both cases – asks Vitri – the purchased services could not have been the subject of a tender? But even more surprising are the tasks entrusted for the “Marche DiWine” initiative, which took place in Gabicce in 2023. In this case there are even three Roman companies involved, for a total total that exceeds the sum of 150 thousand euros, therefore well above the threshold established for direct foster care: these are Ritoragency, which received 49,776 euros, I Cube Italy, which received 50,020, and Vero Events, which received 85,400. Certainly curious is the coincidence that sees the last two companies not only sharing the same headquarters, but even the same CEO. Coincidence for which we will ask Acquaroli to account with a specific question, because the time has come for him too, not only as president, but also as holder of the delegation for Tourism, to show his face, explaining to us and to all the people of the Marche whether Atim is needed to promote our region or to circulate flows of money in an uncontrolled and uncontrollable manner outside the Marche”.
Regional councilor Fabrizio Cesetti raises the bar, first signatory of the bill for the repeal of the law establishing Atim, which is still waiting to be discussed in the chamber: “Now we want to know how the resources made available to Atim by the regional council. And we want to know every penny of it. But I also want to reiterate that these scandals could have been avoided if President Acquaroli and his majority had listened to the opposition’s suggestions. In fact, the critical issues raised which are now being raised by the Court of Auditors are exactly comparable with those which I myself highlighted, as minority rapporteur, at the time of the establishment of the Atim and also with those contained in dozens of inspection documents which the assembly group of the Democratic Party has presented in these two years. “
Final comment by regional councilor Maurizio Mangialardi, who, still on the subject of waste, once again underlines the issue of the Roberto Mancini testimonials: “This is a textbook example of how Atim operated. Our group has been proposing since August 2023 to renegotiate or terminate the contract with the former Italian national team coach after his resignation and transfer to Saudi Arabia. It would have been the most logical thing to avoid wasting resources: everyone realized that Mancini could no longer fill that role as testimonial of the Marche as coach of the Saudi national team. But Atim and president Acquaroli didn’t want to listen: they preferred to ignore the problem, while hypocritically making Mancini disappear from all the commercials, advertisements and billboards, given that he was no longer a marketable testimonial. It took a year, but in the end Atim also understood that it was necessary to review the relationship with Mancini: so, last July 31, an addendum to the contract was approved, Roberto Mancini’s role as testimonial is limited to a single territory. In short, the Marche Region will continue to pay up to the last cent the 615 thousand euros to Mancini to be the testimonial only in Saudi Arabia! A decidedly disproportionate investment given the almost zero volumes of Saudi tourism towards the Marche.”
photo: ATIM offices
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