Ilva has appointed former Acciai Speciali Terni ceo Marco Pucci as its new general director to replace Massimo Rosini who left the steelmaker by mutual consent. The new chief will oversee the process to sell Ilva, the Italian firm tells Kallanish.

Rosini – appointed in February 2015 – resigned from his position due to the “…recent developments and the changes in the conditions which lead to his selection in 2015,” the company explains.

The news comes at a difficult time for Ilva, as EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is expected to present in Strasbourg next month his proposal for the initiation of an investigation into alleged state aid received by Ilva.

After analysing the data the Commission is expected to initiate an official investigation to evaluate to what extent the aid received by Ilva is compatible with the rules governing the European market.

The main subjects under investigation will likely include the loans granted to the troubled steelmaker in 2015, and the legitimacy of the latest law decree (see Kallanish 5 December). The latter allocates €800 million ($871m) for the implementation of Ilva’s environmental clean-up in 2016.