Parmalat's new chief executive prepared to meet Italy's government today as the global food group considers seeking bankruptcy protection in an Enron-style scandal involving billions of euros of missing money.
With a new payment deadline looming and its bonds taking another hit, Parmalat's newly appointed chairman and chief executive Mr Enrico Bondi was to meet Industry Minister Mr Antonio Marzano this afternoon in Rome, a ministry source said.
The source did not provide details on the meeting. But it comes two days after Prime Minister Mr Silvio Berlusconi, calling Parmalat's financial crisis "almost incredible", vowed his government would save the firm's industrial operations and jobs.
The Industry Ministry might be required to name administrators for Parmalat, depending on what type of special administration status Italy's biggest food group seeks.
Parmalat, Italy's biggest food group with 35,000 employees in 30 countries, stunned markets on Friday when it said a document showing €3.95 billion held by a Cayman Islands unit, Bonlat Financing Corp, had been declared false by Bank of America.
The missing four billion euros dwarfs a one billion-euro accounting scandal at Dutch retailer Ahold and drew comparisons with the collapse of energy giant Enron.
Media reports said the hole could be as big as €10 billion
-- making it one of Europe's biggest accounting scandals.