Confesercenti reports that 20 percent of Italian businesses pay regular fees to criminals in order to work undisturbed. In the south, the proportion is far higher. In Sicily, for example, eight out of 10 businesses regularly pay monthly protection to the Mafia.
The report named and shamed several of Italy’s large construction companies for allegedly ignoring organized crime. Confesercenti head Marco Venturi recommended this week that firms that report extortionists to the police should receive tax exemptions, that companies associated with the Mafia be disqualified from public contracts and that honest businesses create an “extortion-free” business association.
