In relation to what was reported by various press agencies on the start of a procedure for inclusion in the "black list" by the Indian authorities, Leonardo-Finmeccanica takes note of the declarations of the Indian Defense Minister, Manohar Parrikar, although he did not, to to date, no formal communication has been received from the relevant authorities.
In any case, the Leonardo-Finmeccanica Group's exposure to India is extremely limited because no new order has been included in the forecasts for years. In particular, then, the order for the supply of torpedoes was never formalized through the signing of the relevant contract and, therefore, never entered in the backlog. For all this, the 2016 Guidance Guidelines and the objectives announced in the business plan are fully confirmed.
Rather, even in a context of great uncertainty, Leonardo-Finmeccanica, in a spirit of cooperation, has continued in recent years to provide India with components and services essential to guarantee the operation of the platforms and equipment of the country's Armed Forces. India is an interesting market for Leonardo-Finmeccanica.
Therefore, the company hopes that a shared and transparent solution will be identified as soon as possible in order to shed light on ongoing initiatives and future business opportunities. Otherwise, the company will not hesitate to make its own assessments in light of the limited activity in progress.
Since the establishment, in the 2014, of the current top management, Leonardo-Finmeccanica has started a new course, operating a profound internal restructuring, within which the management has been strongly renewed. The new organization has also introduced far more extensive and stringent corporate governance and compliance procedures, including a detailed anti-corruption code and whistleblowing measures. It is no coincidence that Leonardo-Finmeccanica has risen to the highest levels of the international classification of defense companies involved in anti-corruption (as evidenced by the relevant 2015 Anti-Corruption Index created by Transparency International), passing into the more qualified B bracket that includes the best international operators in the sector but not some important current suppliers of the Indian Ministry of Defense.
