On Saturday, the assembly of the presidents of the Supervisory Authorities Sistema Portuale has elected Roberto Petri as its new president of the Association of Italian Ports (Assoporti). An appointment that breaks the custom of electing to the presidency of the organization one of the presidents of the associated Port Authorities. If also for the appointment of the presidents of the Italian Port Authorities often derogated from the port rule which provides that it is "chosen between citizens of the Member States of the European Union with proven evidence experience and professional qualification in the sectors of the economy of transport and ports", so the assembly of Assoporti has derogated from the association's statute which provides for that the president be "identified among Italian citizens with proven experience and professional qualification in the sectors of the transport and port economy".

Petri, in fact, graduated in law, has spent many years of his years of work in the banking sector and then covered various positions in the public sector, including that of head of technical secretariat of the Undersecretary of Defense and head of the secretariat of the Minister of Defense during the XIV and XVI legislature and member of the boards of directors of several companies with public participation. Among the latter, Fintecna where Petri, as a member of the Board of Directors, in the three years of office - as stated in his curriculum vitae by Assoporti - "followed the activities of the Fincantieri, which at the time was a subsidiary of Fintecna. In particular interest in relations with the great tourism shipbuilding. In those years Fincantieri had in construction of the large cruise ships of the 'Carnival' group. In this perspective - explains the curriculum - has carried out visits and inspections with technicians to check the progress of the constructions to then follow their launch. Even the Tirrenia of navigazione S.p.A. was part of Fintecna S.p.A. and therefore had way of following its progress both in terms of balance sheet and in terms of regarding the progress of the development of domestic routes. It has therefore had the opportunity - specifies the curriculum - to carry out some targeted visits to the ports where Tirrenia had its main stopovers. These experiences have also allowed him to deepen his knowledge of the problems related to passenger movement and to become aware of of the logistical structures necessary for the transport of goods".

In his curricula made public on the occasion of the previous assignments, the reference to the experience in Fintecna, as soon as mentioned above, did not include his activity carried out for Fincantieri and Tirrenia which would seem to have been included in the curriculum for Assoporti almost as a justification for his candidacy for the presidency of the association, as is the custom among many job applicants who want to let their empowerment know employer that they have the skills that the company has required they have it.

Since 2011 Petri has been executive chairman of Italimmobili, considered the real estate safe of Fratelli d'Italia, a party to which Petri has explicitly expressed his closeness. Petri is married to Fratelli d'Italia senator Marta Farolfi.

The Association of Italian Ports has specified that the appointment of Petri took place in advance of the next 19 January, the deadline indicated by the Commission during the of the shareholders' meeting of 3 December last, and will allow a orderly and timely handover with the current president Rodolfo Giampieri, whose mandate expires on 31 December. In addition, Assoporti noted that the election of Petri at a particularly significant stage for the system Italian port system, characterized by a profound renewal of the governance: in fact, 14 new members were appointed during 2025 presidents of Port System Authorities, marking the start of the of a new season for the national port system. To this scenario will be accompanied, in 2026, by the planned launch of the port reform, which will redesign structures, competences and industry governance tools. The choice of Roberto Petri - explains Assoporti again in a note - responds to the will of the members' assembly to ensure continuity to the action of Assoporti, while consolidating a dialogue constant and constructive with the institutions, starting with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, with the European Union and with the entire maritime-port cluster.

On the sidelines of the assembly, the members of Assoporti decided to start an internal discussion next January with regard to the draft port reform bill, after its approval in the Council of Ministers, in order to give A constructive contribution to the government.