A major investment, 250 members involved, thirteen municipalities of Ogliastra united in a cooperative that looks to the future. And yet, the social oil mill of Lanusei is at a standstill. Blocked for months, not because of technical or management problems, but because of a bureaucratic short circuit that threatens to nullify every effort.
In 2024, the Cooperative of small oil mill owners participated in the Pnrr call for the modernization of oil plants, accessing the sub-measure dedicated to the "sustainability of the extra virgin olive oil transformation process". Objective: to replace obsolete machinery and make the production chain more efficient and sustainable.
The new machinery was purchased last July and completed in September. Since then, however, everything has been at a standstill: "The plant cannot be used because the application for testing cannot be uploaded to the ministerial platform Sian", explains the president of the cooperative Patrizio Re. "The reasons are unclear and never clarified".
The case is not isolated: numerous oil mills throughout Sardinia are in the same situation. The modernization is on paper, but the plants - although ready - remain inoperative. The companies, which have already taken out bank loans and are starting to pay the interest, are facing a crisis that does not depend on them but on a systemic failure of a purely administrative nature.
"No response from the ministry. The Region, when asked, declared that it could not intervene. In the meantime, time passes and the deadline looms: the peremptory deadline to conclude the investments is set for January 31, 2026. After that date, the revocation of the funds granted and the recovery of any sums already disbursed will be triggered".
According to the second rectification of the PNRR call ranking, published on May 30, 2024 (Determination no. 3352), out of 24 applications submitted, 18 are admitted and fundable, with allocated resources equal to 1,435,460.49 euros out of a total availability of over 2.8 million. "Despite this, no disbursement has yet been made by Argea Sardegna. The Coop of Lanusei regularly submitted the payment request on February 10, 2025, but since then all has been silent", Re specifies.
