‘Political pressure has made governance more difficult,’ defends TAP CEO

The CEO of the company stated that “it is very difficult to manage the company, it is still there. With all the political and media pressure, it was hard to keep the management team in focus.”

In her opening speech, Christine Widener was shattering when she stated, “I’m just a scapegoat, I was fired from television by two ministers in an illegal process and I continue to hold my post without leadership.” During questioning, the CEO confirmed that on the Sunday before the press conference where she was acquitted (March 5), she had a meeting with Fernando Medina in which the Minister of Finance told her that “the situation was difficult.” but never “told me I was going to be fired for a good reason. They asked me to resign.” Christine Widener said she received the legal notice “a week later” because “until today, I didn’t know the date of my departure from the company.”

Another episode illustrating political pressure was presented by the Liberal Initiative (IL), which released an email exchange between the CEO and former Secretary of State for Infrastructure Hugo Mendez, in which he pressured the CEO to change the flight that Marcelo was on. Rebelo vineyard de Souza (Lisbon-Mozambique). “We cannot risk losing the president’s political support… if his mood changes, all is lost. One of your verdict against the TAR and the rest of the country against us. This is our biggest ally, but it could be our biggest nightmare,” wrote Hugo Mendez. The CEO went to ask if the request was from the presidency, but concluded that it was not. The flight has not changed. “The president has found another solution. He will never ask to change the flight because it will affect other people. I am very pleased with the result,” said Christine Widener.

“DOES NOT LEVEL”
Still TAP chief Christine Urmier-Widener said on Tuesday that Alexandra Reis’ departure from the company was because she “didn’t fit” with the company’s strategy. And he added that the limit of compensation paid – 500 thousand euros – was determined by the then Secretary of State for Infrastructure Hugo Mendez.

husband’s company
The TAP CEO denied that the disagreement with Alexandra Reis stemmed from the fact that she refused to hire a company that has ties to husband Christine Widener.

THOUSANDS
Former TAP president Fernando Pinto received €685,000 in prizes between 2017 and 2018. His successor, Antonoaldo Neves, received 150,000 euros in 2018. Christine Widener says he hasn’t received any prizes yet.

Galamba prepared a meeting with the CEO
The CEO’s visit to the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs on January 17 was preceded by a meeting between Christine Widener and members of the Socialist Party (PS) parliamentary group, as well as various government advisers and heads of cabinet. This meeting was prepared by Minister João Galamba and provoked outrage on Tuesday by several MPs from the PSD and Chega. One of the PS deputies present at this meeting was Carlos Pereira.

DETAILS
PSD REQUEST OPINION FOR “RIGHT REASON”
The SDP asked for documents and opinions that gave “legal support” to the government’s decision to dismiss the director general of the TAP for a good reason.

PS I WANT TO EVALUATE CFO STATEMENTS
PS wants TAP’s commission of inquiry to begin evaluating statements made by TAP CFO Gonzalo Pires to determine if there have been contradictions with the airline’s still CEO’s version.

MOODY’S UPGRADES TAP’S
Moody’s upgraded several TAP ratings (from B3 to B2), changing the company’s outlook to positive. The rating of the company’s €375 million bond issue was also upgraded from B3 to B2.

The Airbus planes were purchased with $233 million in savings.”
Former Economy Minister in the Passos government, Coelho, said on Tuesday that the purchase of aircraft for TAP by the private consortium Atlantic/Gateway (owned by David Nieleman and Humberto Pedrosa) was discounted by 233 million euros on the sales price. “It is completely false, unfounded and insulting that the government, myself or Secretary of State Sergio Monteiro authorized or agreed to purchase aircraft at a price higher than the fair market price,” he said. This official also stated that he had no reason not to trust Humberto Pedrosa and Lacerda Machado (who worked out the renationalization). “If TAP were 100% private, the state would not have to invest 3.2 billion euros, especially a billion in the Brazilian operation,” said Pires de Lima, who called the Brazilian operation a “cancer” for the company.