Nominations at the board of Naviris

Logos Naviris, Naval Group, Finacantieri

29 Mars 2023 Groupe Communiqué de presse

On March 28th, following the Board of Directors of Naviris, the joint venture between Fincantieri and Naval Group, various nominations were announced.

Pierroberto Folgiero has been appointed Chairman. Damien Raby, appointed Chief Executive Officer and Enrico Bonetti, reappointed Chief Operational Officer, will run the joint venture. Parent companies are equally represented on the Board of Directors.

Created in 2020, Naviris is a 50/50 joint venture, with half of the employees Italian and half French. With the head office located in Genova and a subsidiary in Ollioules, the Naviris team focuses on bi-national and export projects. Naviris was created on the belief that the collaboration in the European naval industry is essential in allowing the European continent to be a leader in the strategic sector of naval defense, either for its own needs or for those of its allies.

Since its creation, Naviris has been working on different key projects. In July 2020, Naviris signed a contract with OCCAR, the European Joint Armaments Cooperation organization, for a feasibility study on the mid-life upgrade (MLU) of the four French and Italian Horizon frigates. The studies have been completed and delivered to OCCAR. On the same project, currently Naviris in partnership with Eurosam is dealing the negotiation phase with OCCAR in order to get the main contract covering the MLU for the four frigates.

Naviris also signed a 4-year contract regarding R&T with OCCAR in June 2020 for joint research activities, but also the upgrade of design and production process for the vessels destined to France, Italy and their export. As prime contractor, Naviris coordinates technical activities managed by Fincantieri and Naval Group and owns the intellectual property of all the research findings.

Naviris’ work also includes the development of the European Patrol Corvette (EPC). In July 2022, the European Commission selected the proposal submitted by the consortium led by Naviris together with Fincantieri, Naval Group and Navantia for the Modular and Multirole Patrol Corvette (MMPC) call. The objective of the consortium’s proposal is to maximize synergies and collaboration among European shipbuilding industrials. By developing together a new ship, the EPC, they aim to ensure a European sovereignty in the second rank warship. Naviris paves the way to the consolidation of European naval defense in response to the increasing pressure of worldwide competitors.

Biography of Pierroberto Folgiero

Pierroberto Folgiero is Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Fincantieri since 2022. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the L.U.I.S.S. University in Rome and Adjunct Professor in Management of Circular Economy within the Law, Digital, Innovation and Sustainability department.

Since 2000, he has held various positions in the Administration, Finance and Control area of Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A., and in 2006 that of Corporate Development Director.

In 2008, he continued his career at Tirrenia di Navigazione S.p.A. as Chief Financial Officer and as General Manager, contributing to the restructuring and privatisation of the company.

Since May 2013, he has been Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Maire Tecnimont Group and its main subsidiaries Tecnimont S.p.A. and KT S.p.A.

In April 2019, he was also appointed Chief Executive Officer of NextChem S.p.A., a subsidiary company operating in the field of green chemistry and technologies supporting the energy transition, as well as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Stamicarbon, a centre of excellence in licensing and IP of Maire Tecnimont, a world leader in the licensing of technologies for the production of urea-based fertilisers.

A firm believer in an open innovation approach and osmosis between sectors, he is involved in start-up analyses and selection programmes, with a strong focus on the development of innovative ideas, new business models and the promotion of young talent.

Biography of Damien Raby

Damien Raby, started his career as military Engineer into the governmental French defense procurement agency (DGA) Flight Test Center in 1996.

He joined Naval Group (formerly known as DCN) in 2002 where he was responsible for initiating the first naval drone activities and at further stage managing the preliminary design and marketing activities pertaining to the Barracuda Class Submarine Combat System.

In 2006, after being appointed as the Naval Group Underwater Weapons Business Unit Industrial Director, he was instrumental in the set up and management of the MU90 torpedo manufacturing as well as the UUV R&D activities. In 2009, he became Director for Innovation and marketing activities within the Naval Group Engineering department located in Lorient.

In January 2013, he was appointed as Director for Innovation and Strategic affairs of the Submarine Division, in Paris. In September 2014, he was appointed Director for Innovation of Naval Group. As from 2016, he has been managing the Saint Tropez Naval Group center and has been in charge of the Underwater Weapons Business Unit.

Biography of Enrico Bonetti

Enrico Bonetti is Naviris Chief Operations Officer and member of the Board since January 2020 at the creation of the joint venture.

He holds a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Genoa. 3 After a one-year experience in the CETENA Research Centre he joined Fincantieri in 1982 where he made his career to become Surface Naval Vessels Project Management Director in 2002.

He then was appointed Sales and Marketing Director of the Naval Vessels Business Unit of Fincantieri.

In 2008 he was appointed Head of Project Management; in 2010 he became Head of International Partnerships of the Naval Vessels BU and from 2013 Senior Vice President in charge of the Product and Market Development of the Naval Vessels BU of Fincantieri.

From 2016 he was Senior Vice President of the International Business Unit; in this role he had under his responsibility the management of all the Fincantieri foreign companies and the worldwide sales and marketing initiatives in the naval vessels business.

About Naviris

Naviris is a 50/50 owned joint venture by Fincantieri and Naval Group, officially launched in January 2020. With this alliance bringing new opportunities to the surface ship market, Fincantieri and Naval Group have cemented their joint desire to build a future of excellence for the shipbuilding industry and navies. The two European leaders with complementary offers, supported by a large ecosystem, came together to better serve the world’s navies and mutually increase their competitive edge. They are materialising their shared worldwide ambition: the alliance is based on a mutual understanding of the challenges and realities of naval defence in the world of today. Naviris is dedicated to opening the doors to the international markets of tomorrow.

Media contact:

Ilaria Castagnola
Tel. +39 345 0848813
ilaria.castagnola@naviris.com

About Fincantieri

Fincantieri is one of the world’s largest shipbuilding groups, the only one active in all high-tech marine industry sectors. It is leader in the construction and transformation of cruise, naval and oil & gas and wind offshore vessels, as well as in the production of systems and component equipment, after-sales services and marine interiors solutions. Thanks to the expertise developed in the management of complex projects, the Group boasts first-class references in infrastructures, and is a reference player in digital technologies and cybersecurity, electronics and advanced systems. With over 230 years of history and more than 7,000 ships built, Fincantieri maintains its know-how, expertise and management centres in Italy, here employing 10,000 workers and creating around 90,000 jobs, which double worldwide thanks to a production network of 18 shipyards operating in four continents and with almost 20,000 employees. www.fincantieri.com

Press Office:

Tel. +39 040 3192473
press.office@fincantieri.it

Investor Relations:

Tel. +39 040 3192111
investor.relations@fincantieri.it

Naval Group's Press Contacts:

Faïza ZAROUAL
Mob. +33 (0)6 31 65 78 25
faiza.zaroual@naval-group.com  

Véronique PAGE
Mob. +33 (0)6 37 18 01 32
veronique.page@naval-group.com