Google translation of the article.
The letter from the so-called “non-existent” workers of Bio-On.
Once a flagship in the biotechnology sector, a story like Bio-On ‘s is not heard every day. Founded in 2007, the company founded by Marco Astorri and his partner Guy Cicognani aimed to revolutionize the world of plastics through the development of completely biodegradable biomaterials .
Given its enormous potential, the idea attracted the interest of many investors, transforming the startup into a leader in the emerging market of ecological alternatives to traditional plastic , quickly reaching a stock market capitalization of 1 billion euros.
But despite its successes, Bio-On ‘s upward trajectory came to an abrupt halt in 2019, when a report from a US investment fund accused the company of deceptive business practices and accounting irregularities , also raising doubts about the very existence of a business model, as well as the company itself and the entire supply chain connected to it.
The consequences were devastating: the value of the shares collapsed, investor confidence vanished, and the Italian judiciary intervened with an investigation. The investigations confirmed irregularities, culminating in the suspension of the stock exchange listing and, shortly thereafter, in the declaration of bankruptcy.
Affaritaliani.it has exclusively obtained a letter written by those very Bio-On employees , whose existence (and obviously their employment) was questioned until their (real) dismissal which culminated in the bankruptcy of the company.
Letter from Bio-On employees
We are a group of former employees of the BIO-ON company, the same employees who lost their jobs and salaries, the same ones who spent sleepless nights wondering why all this happened.
We read in the press and online what is emerging from the Bio-On trial, and specifically we refer to some passages of the recent indictment of the Public Prosecutors.
Five long years have now passed since those events, but today learning that the PMs still maintain that “the company did not exist, that it was an empty box, that there were no technologies” fully reawakens the malaise of those days.
We remember that morning well, there was enthusiasm among us, because the product dedicated to cosmetics was reaching the required quality target. We were on the production lines when the Guardia di Finanza agents arrived early, they themselves were amazed because we were working, and for what we were doing, given that the hypothesis of the magistrates (which apparently inexplicably persists even today despite a thousand proofs to the contrary …) and that the company was an “empty box”.
We stopped the factory, and left several tons of that “nothing” in the warehouses, that same nothing that meant a lot to us.
We do not want to get into the legal proceedings, which do not concern us, but we only ask that our work not be systematically discredited: we believe in what we have done with considerable sacrifice and commitment, and we hope that the planet will soon be invaded by that “nothing”, a nothing that – in the opinion not of us, but of illustrious scientists – could make a difference from an environmental point of view for the entire world.
*Stefano Conti, representing a Committee of former employees of the BioOn company
Refs
I dipendenti “inesistenti” di Bio-On: “La società non era una scatola vuota”. La lettera esclusiva
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