Mario Centeno heard today at the TAP Inquiry Commission

Former finance minister Mario Centeno will be heard this Monday before a TAP inquiry panel over the airline’s political tutelage between November 2015 and June 2020.

The current governor of Banco de Portugal left the government prior to a controversial €500,000 compensation paid to former administrator Alexandra Reis which called out this commission of inquiry, but he was still minister for part of the period in which the works are concentrated (2020-2022). ), but to which they are not limited.

The former head of finance led TAP along with the Ministry of Infrastructure when the airline faced difficulties following the Covid-19 pandemic and the government decided to provide emergency assistance with the approval of the European Commission.

The aid was set at 3,200 million euros and was accompanied by a restructuring plan that included layoffs and pay cuts for all airline workers that still apply, but at the time Mario Centeno was no longer in government.

The Board of Inquiry also considered the privatization and shareholder reconfiguration carried out by the PS government, namely issues related to the so-called Airbus funds, a deal between former private shareholder David Nieleman and an aircraft manufacturer for capitalization. airlines in the amount of 226.75 million euros, which raised doubts about the legality of the transaction and the awareness of political decision makers about it.

Mario Centeno was part of the PS government (with the support of the BE, PCP and PEV parliament) which partially reversed the privatization carried out by the PSD/CDS-PP executive led by Pedro Passos Coelho.

The Atlantic Gateway consortium, made up of shareholders David Nieleman and Portuguese businessman Humberto Pedrosa, won the privatization of TAP, but with the subsequent reconfiguration of shareholders, the state again became the owner of most of the company’s capital, but retained private management.