The increase in the price of energy goods puts 120,000 companies and 370,000 employees in danger in Italy until the first semester of 2023, the Confederation of Trade Confederation announced on Thursday, quoted by the EFE agency.

The employers’ organization has estimated that all energy expenditure in the tertiary sector will amount to 33 billion euros in 2022, triple compared to 2021 (11 billion) and more than double as in 2019 (14.9 billion), and that the most affected sectors will be: retail trade, restaurants, hotels and transport, the latter especially as a result of the increase in fuel prices.

Confcommercio argued that the new Italian Government that will be elected after the elections on September 25 will have to face this problem and promote among the 27 member states the approval of a community threshold for gas prices to “drastically reduce the energy cost” of to all companies, not just energy-intensive ones, according to Agerpres.

“Otherwise, we risk jeopardizing the economic recovery of the last months”, after the coronavirus pandemic, the employers’ body emphasized.

Mario Draghi’s government is finalizing the approval of a new decree that provides an incentive for reducing consumption and promoting the decarbonization of production processes, as published on Thursday by the specialized media, EFE also writes.