MSC was caught in a political scandal

Private shipping company Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has found itself at the center of a scandal due to its management’s ties to the Macron administration.

The head of President Emmanuel Macron’s administration, Alexis Kohler, is accused of lobbying for his family’s interests while working at the Ministry of Finance.

Four years ago, Kohler’s connections with the Italian Aponte family, the founder and owner of the Italo-Swiss shipping company Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), were discovered. It turned out that the founders of the company were Kohler’s relatives. At the same time, MSC was using state-owned French shipyards to build cruise ships – precisely during the period when Kohler held a position in the ministry.

For several years, the court process did not develop and even stopped, but now the case has been reopened; at the end of September, the prosecutor’s office had already charged Kohler.

Cases of “favouritism” are perceived quite harshly in Europe. However, the damage to the politician’s authority and the reputational consequences for MSC should not be compared. The company currently remains one of the largest and most sought-after carriers and is unlikely to suffer significant losses after the conclusion of the Kohler case.