37 ELETTRONICA SICULA (JUDGMENT) finally resolved, if possible through settlement out of court. On 13 November 1968 the Italian Government issued a press communiqué which stated that "while the STET Group [Società finanziaria telefonica, an affiliate or subsidiary of IR11 remains committed to build a new plant in Palermo for the production of telecommunication products, the IRI-STET Group, urged by the Government, after the examination of alternative solutions which proved unfeasible, stated its willingness to intervene in the take-over of the [ELSI] plant in the organization of new lines of production". According to the communiqué, the conditions of STET's intervention were to be agreed between the STET Group and the authorities of the Sicilian region. 38. The court dealing with the bankruptcy ordered an auction of ELSI's premises, plant and equipment to be held on 18 January 1969, and set a minimum bid of 5,000 million lire. This auction, and the subsequent auctions mentioned below, were advertised in leading newspapers both in Italy and in Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. No bids were received at this auction, and a second auction was set for 22 March 1969, this time with the inclusion also of the entire inventory at the plant and elsewhere, the minimum bid being set at 6,223,293,258lire. In the meantime negotiations were being carried on for a takeover of the plant by an IR1 subsidiary and the re-employment of most of ELSI's former staff. It was reported in the Sicilian press, first that on 18 March 1969it had been agreed that IR1 would acquire ELSI's assets, beginning with a lease of the plant for 150 million lire, and secondly that the former President of Sicily, Mr. Carollo, had stated at a public meeting on 5 April 1969 that there had been a written agreement with IR1 in October 1968 that "entailed the acquisition of the [ELSI] factory by IR1 for the sum of four billion lire. It was even agreed that IR1 would be absent from the first auction, participating instead in the second one, where the basic price was precisely four billion lire". 39. No bids were received at the second auction. A week later a proposa1to lease and re-open the plant was made to the trustee in bankruptcy by ELTEL (Industria Elettronica Telecommunicazioni S.p.A.), a subsidiary of IR1 set up in December 1968. The terms proposed for the lease were not acceptable as such to the creditors' committee, which did however recom-