Suviana, the subcontracted company with twenty employees spread across Italy opened in the hinterland of Genoa: “Here in Mele, European incentives for depressed areas”

The Chamber of Commerce certificate says that, as of 31 December 2023, the Engineering Automation it had 20 employees, more or less equally distributed between office workers and workers, distributed throughout Italy. Two, Pavel Petronel Tanase of Settimo Torinese e Vincenzo Franchinaa Sicilian transplanted to Genoa, died in the Suviana tragedy together with the sole administrator and deus ex machina of society, Mario Pisania life in Enel then becoming a small entrepreneur.

The 73-year-old rooted in San Marzano di San Giuseppe, in the province of Taranto, which here in Mele, inland to the far west of Genoa, some called Mario the Apulian. After all, the majority of the three thousand souls of the Ligurian town, a microscopic but sprawling municipality on the Turchino state road, had never seen Mario Pisani. He was as well known and appreciated at home, for his social commitment and skills, as he was unknown here, a thousand kilometers away.

Not even heard of him, just as his company specializes, as the well-kept website announces, in high-efficiency smart systems. However, many are well aware of the large red warehouse of Biscaccia, a secondary road that climbs the ridge of the hill, in the shadow of the imposing wind turbine that dominates the ridge. But only because, in one wing, Sergio Pedemonte, glory and pride of the country, builds what they define here as “the most beautiful bicycles in the world”. Probably without even exaggerating too much.

Inside the building, even after days, no one wants to talk, in fact no one even sees each other. Calling the landline number of Engineering Automation, established in 2015, the response is polite but firm: “We have nothing to say.” The only one who spoke in recent days, Diego Ottonello, 46 years old and survived because he is on health insurance, in this moment of mourning he prefers not to answer the phone anymore. The shed, which does nothing to hide the weight of the years, was one of the many paper mills that, since 1700, have made the town’s fortune.

There were seventy of them, today only one remains, in a town which, however, has never lost its industrial vocation. The door is barred by a heavy padlock. A few meters from the entrance several cars. «One is that of the owner», he assures Marco Catardi, an art restorer who emerges from a large window on the second floor. It’s possible that he left it here before leaving for Suviana together with the two technicians. «He wasn’t seen often, I knew him like you might know a neighbor. We exchanged a few words when we had to move the cars onto the forecourt, but nothing more.”

He doesn’t park, instead the man stops in front of the door, looks at the lock, then gets back in the car, without leaving again. He’s a supplier to the company, he knows everything. He climbed up here almost guided by instinct, knowing that he would hardly find anyone: «I knew they were working in that power station. They make electrical panels and are often contacted by Siemensabove all, and Abb. I had frequent contact with them. I am speechless”.

A subcontract, therefore, as already emerged in the hours following the tragedy, when Enel explained that it had turned to leading companies, including Siemens and Abb.

Ottonello again explained that “our point of reference was Mario Pisani. It was he who explained the work to us, who gave us useful indications on how to operate. As a company I can say that ours has always been in order, with all the necessary permits.”

Mayor Mirco Ferrando, in office for ten years and vying for the hat trick. He knows Mele and his voters one by one and nothing escapes his attention. But Mario Pisani never entered his radar, to the point that, when news of the tragedy spread, he searched for any trace of him in the City Hall papers. In vain. «Many people ask me this, but nothing, I really don’t know who he is. For all I know he may never have set foot here either. Choosing a municipality for your business may not even mean anything.”

Or maybe yes. Because if the concentration of companies continues to be so significant in Mele, much of the credit goes to Europe, which included the valley in the so-called Objective 2the fund that promotes the economic reconversion of areas in difficulty.

Depressed, it was once said”, he explains Vincenzo Strangis. director of Essebi, a competitor of Engineering Automation, based in Naples but manufacturing a few hundred meters from its rival. And seven hundred employees. «There are incentives for those who invest here. And then in these parts, at the end of the Seventies, Cael was born, specializing in supplies for the railways. Many have trained there

Then it might not be a coincidence that, again according to the Chamber of Commerce documents, Engineering Automation in 2018 arose from the ashes of another company now in liquidation which however was based in Milan, the Eledatatel. And that in recent years it has transformed into what it is today, a company specialized “in control and supervision systems for the energy production, steel and environmental sectors, including turnkey projects and command logics, regulation and supervision”.