Manuel Beja stated that several public companies operate without a management contract

The former financial administrator of TAP said this Thursday that he questioned management contracts that are mandatory in public companies that TAP does not have, and former president Manuel Beja said there are several public companies that do not have them.

“I knew about the need for management contracts, I myself raised this issue when the three-month period from June 24 was coming to an end. [de 2021]because I asked. […] I even had a conversation with the chairman of the board of directors of TAR [Manuel Beja]who was also very sensitive to these issues and he consulted and told me that several Portuguese public companies are operating without management contracts or have no management contracts,” said João Gameiro in the TAP commission of inquiry.

The former financial administrator, who held the post for four months in 2021, answered questions from Socialist MP Fatima Fonseca about the status of public administrator that began to apply to TAP when it returned to state control and about the management contracts that should be signed. directors of public companies within three months of taking office, which, in the case of an airline, have not yet been signed.

Stating that he was aware of the public manager law before joining TAP’s governing bodies, João Gameiro said it was important for him to have a management contract as well as “directors and officers” insurance as these are positions with criminal liability, civil liability . and financial for the decisions and actions taken.

According to a former manager, the airline had insurance for this purpose, but it was “small” because after the difficulties caused by the covid-19 pandemic, the capital of insurers decreased and “it became very difficult to find an insurer that was available for TAP insurance to sell.” “.

“I think this was an important issue for various elements of the administration, which the chairman of the board of directors attached great importance to and which remained with him for a little while to lead this process of trying to start the mechanism – without insurance. – some other guarantee that formalized the responsibility of administrators,” he explained.

The former financial administrator later explained in response to Social Democrat MP Hugo Carneiro that this was even one of the reasons he resigned, because he understood that “it is extremely important to have insurance”.

“Without insurance, […] so it was important to have a management contract, to try to protect the directors through the contract, and I know that the chairman of the board of directors will take the initiative to such a degree, but there came a point when I realized that this was not the case. happen,” he said.

Asked about a statement released by the government at the time of his resignation, which referred to “unforeseen personal reasons”, João Gameiro discounted, considering that in terms of guardianship “it was actually personal and unpredictable reasons”.

Regarding the relationship with the Ministry of Finance, the former administrator explained that there was a channel of dialogue with then finance minister Miguel Cruz and with the Directorate General of the Treasury and Finance (DGTF), stressing that it never felt “lack of response”.

Regarding fleet spending, which led to prosecutors opening an investigation for indications that TAP may be paying more than its competitors, the former administrator said he had never made such a comparison with colleagues and who only became aware of it case after his departure.

PSD also interrogated the former manager about the purchase of paper cups for the company in the amount of 620,000 euros, which was decided by the Executive Committee, in parallel with the compensation of 500,000 euros paid to the former administrator Alexandra Reis, which will not be the subject of discussion on the same site.

João Gameiro responded that in his four months at the company, “decisions were concentrated in the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee.” “I think the directors did not sign anything, everything had to be taken to the administrators,” he added.