Gruppo Riva

Riva Acciaio was founded in 1954 in Milan by Adriano and Emilio Riva as an iron scrap trading business. In 1957 the first Riva Acciaio mini-mill was built in Caronno Pertusella near Saronno. A few years later, this plant became the first steelworks in Italy to use continuous casting,[2] in partnership with steel plant engineer Danieli. In the 1960's Riva expanded in Italy by purchasing smaller rivals.

Starting from the 1970's, Riva took part in the privatization process of the ailing European steel industry[3] by making further acquisitions in the main European countries such as Italy (the previously state-owned steelworks Acciaierie di Cornigliano in Genoa), Belgium (Charleroi-Marcinelle plant) and France (Alpa plant in Gargenville).[4] In 1992 it acquired directly from the German Treuhandanstalt two important plants (Brandenburger Elektrostahlwerke and Henningsdorfer Elektrostahlwerke) in the former German Democratic Republic.[5] In 1995 Riva Acciaio purchased ILVA from the Italian government, becoming one of the main European steel producers.[6]

Due to the important role played in the privatization of the European steel industry, Emilio Riva was awarded the Grand Cross of Merit by the King of Belgium (2000), the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2002) and the French Legion of Honour (2005).[7] Étienne Davignon, former European Commissioner and Vice-president of the European Commission, has defined Emilio Riva as “prophet of this dynamic and optimistic vision of private enterprise”, affirming that “steelmaking is not an industry like the others, and the Riva group is not an industrial group like the others”.[8]

On February 2, 2012, a report by Istituto Superiore di Sanità revealed extreme levels of air pollution and an abnormal incidence of cancer and cardiovascular diseases around the city of Taranto, where the ILVA giant steelworks are located. Following the report, Emilio Riva and his son Nicola, along with Taranto plant top managers, were arrested for allegedly causing an environmental disaster, and the plant was seized.[9] However, the resulting Ambiente Svenduto (Italian for "environment undersold") trial has been mostly inconclusive. Emilio Riva died in 2014 aged 87,[10] while his brother Adriano Riva, that succeeded Emilio at the top of the family business after the scandal, died in 2019 aged 88,[11] after having reached a €1.3 billion settlement with the Italian state.[12] Fabio Riva, another son of founder Emilio and ex-deputy of Riva Group, was convicted for fraud and sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in jail on 24 April, 2018.[13] The Italian state sold the Taranto plant to ArcelorMittal in May 2018 for 1.8 billion.[14] As of March 2020, the Ambiente Svenduto trial is still ongoing and Nicola Riva remains among the defendants.

On March 8, 2006 the Court of Cassation convicted Emilio Riva to 18 months granting conditional leniency, with regard to events occurred from December 1997 to November 1998 related to an attempted illegal coercion of some ILVA employees which Emilio Riva had been charged with others.[15]

On June 16, 2010 the Court of Cassation declared the extinction because of the statute of limitations of all the violations which Emilio Riva, among others, had been charged with, as to the events occurred from July 2000 to September 2002 related to the supposed violation of anti-pollution regulations in the management of the Ilva factory of Taranto.[16]

On January 19, 2009 the Court of Appeal of Genoa declared null and void the first instance’s verdict related to the charge of pollution and declared the extinction because of the statute of limitations of the other minor charges which Emilio Riva and two of his sons had been charged with in the management of the Ilva factory of Genoa, with regard to events occurred from 1995 to 2002 related to the violation of anti-pollution regulations.[17]