The Court of Auditors (TdC) found that the sale of ANA to Vinci secured a 50-year monopoly in a strategic sector of the economy, according to a privatization audit report that Lusa had access to today.
“The privatization of ANA entailed the cession of a monopoly, closed for 50 years, in a strategic sector of the country’s economy, losing the opportunity to realize the benefits of competition,” TdC noted in a report by counsel to Judge José Manuel Quelhas.
The audit was requested by the Assembly of the Republic and its purpose was to verify, in the light of current legislation and signed concession agreements, whether the privatization of ANA protects the public interest through the achievement of its objectives, which were to “maximize financial returns”, “strengthen competitiveness, growth and the effectiveness of ANA for the benefit of the Portuguese civil aviation sector, the national economy and the users of ANA-managed airport facilities”, as well as “minimizing the State’s exposure to the risk of execution”.
The court also concluded that privatization also “does not contribute to the deconcentration of the national airport service” since it represents a concentration of passengers in Lisbon (50.7% in 2022).
In addition, the TdC indicated that there were facts “relevant to the realization of the risk of insecurity of national interests associated with the transition of control from a public ANA to a private ANA” and that the need for effective control over government revenues by the Public Airport Service, “uniting disagreements regarding the distribution of revenues (ten years after the concession) to materialize the risk that the lack of public control will harm the public interest, thereby affecting the amounts receivable from the concessionaire.”
The lack of public control over concession contracts and public revenues has already been highlighted by the TdC, which recommended measures that have yet to be implemented, the institution added.