Norway’s sovereign investment fund announced on Friday that it will vote against the appointment of Italian businessman Paolo Scaroni as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Italian utility group Enel, reports Reuters, quoted by Agerpres.

In a statement published on its website, the Norwegian Fund, which holds a 2.17% stake in Enel, said it would instead support Marco Mazzucchelli, the candidate proposed by London-based investment fund Covalis. The Norwegian fund did not give a reason for its decision.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has $1.4 trillion in assets and is the world’s largest investor in equity markets. The decision of this fund signals an intensification of a dispute regarding the person chosen by the Rome Government for the post of Enel president and casts a shadow of uncertainty regarding the outcome of the vote.

Enel is going to organize the Annual General Meeting of shareholders on May 10. The Italian state holds a 23% stake in Enel through the Ministry of Finance, making it the largest shareholder in the utility group.

Paolo Scaroni, who was previously president of the AC Milan football club and director of the Rothschild Bank, is close to former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. During his tenure as CEO of energy group Eni, Paolo Scaroni worked to deepen ties with Russian group Gazprom.

Last month, authorities in Rome nominated Flavio Cattaneo for the post of CEO of utility group Enel SpA, succeeding Francesco Starace, who led Enel for three terms. The veteran Paolo Scaroni was proposed for the post of president of Enel.

Enel is one of the world’s largest players in the renewable energy segment, with an installed capacity of almost 60 Gigawatts (GW). Sources cited by Reuters previously revealed that the Government in Rome is concerned about Enel’s accumulated debts, which have reached 60 billion euros in 2022, from 45.5 billion euros in 2020, when Starace was appointed to the third term at the helm of the utility company.