Marina Berlusconi: “All Fininvest debts have been repaid. And they have nothing to do with my father’s entry into politics”

“A large entrepreneurial reality, which employs many, which instead of receiving public contributions makes a significant contribution to public finances, an activity that has improved the quality of life of all Italians (do you remember what Rai programming was before?), which has given fundamental support to an important sector of the economy, that of companies that produce consumer goods and services, an editorial activity that finally after twelve years, having obtained live broadcast, has put an end to the monopoly of television information by producing objective, impartial news programs, impervious to party pressure, the only news programs that are out of line. And this is the deepest reason why Scalfari produces his frenzied attacks.”

So my father, Silvio Berlusconidescribed the Fininvest in a letter to the newspaper dated July 19, 1993, in response to the editorial by Eugenio Scalfarirecalled in a full-page article that Repubblica published today.

I read with amazement that your newspaper continues to find of great interest discussions and events that date back more than thirty years and that have already been widely analyzed, explained, and analyzed. It is certainly not up to me to judge what has been the evolution over these thirty years of what was then the Espresso Group. What I can do – or rather what I want to do – is talk about us, talk about Fininvest.

Fininvest is a solid and healthy group: it has been able to renew itself and continues to generate profits and grow, both in Italy and abroad. We continue to employ several thousand people, to pay millions in taxes into the state coffers every year (almost 7 billion in the last 30 years) and, I am keen to underline this since it was the central topic of your article, there is not a single cent of our debt that has not always been repaid to the banking system. After all, and until proven otherwise, all companies that want to grow go into debt. And I am not aware that, at least for the moment, this is a crime. Then, our lawyers will take care of the umpteenth useless expert report requested by the Florence Prosecutor’s Office.

The two stock market listings that we made in the early 90s and that were very well received by investors, have nothing to do with my father’s entry into politics, as the article tries to insinuate. Those companies are, today as then, leaders on the stock market in their reference sectors.

We owe all these successes to the courage, vision and entrepreneurial genius of Silvio Berlusconi, as well as to the passionate work of all the people who over the years have contributed to making the Fininvest group great. This may not please those who, today as in the past, observe reality with eyes distorted by ideology. They will have to accept it: we will continue on this path. We will continue to work, to believe and to invest in the future of our companies.

Perhaps I am stubborn, but I persist in my belief that in a “normal country” – which many have long hoped Italy could be – the solidity of a large company, which is also the protagonist of significant pan-European growth while keeping its head and heart in our country, must and can only be a reason for appreciation, satisfaction and pride.

I take note of what Marina Berlusconi writes and I would like to remind her that there is no need to be surprised when a journalist finds himself faced with a true and documented piece of news, because in these cases he has only one obligation, that of publishing it. The technical consultancy referred to and which contains the explicit indication of the “descent into the political field” was filed a few weeks ago, therefore it is current, and if after 31 years there is an anti-mafia prosecutor’s office that continues to search for a judicial truth, it means that not everything has been ascertained yet. However, I would like to point out that already in 1993 our founder Eugenio Scalfari had also been a journalist.

Lily Abbot