PCP wants to know if the Accounts Chamber received all the documents to review the TAP privatization in 2015.

On this Wednesday, the PCP requested additional documentation from the Court of Accounts (TdC) and Parpública, considering based on the meetings of the TAP inquiry committee that the “fundamental” documentation may not have been sent to the privatization audit in 2015.

“In the collection of the commission is a letter from Airbus to David Niehlmann dated September 15, 2015, sent to the Parpública Commission, which is not in the documentation folder sent to Parpública in 2023. [ao TdC]. Now this fact may lead to the conclusion that the Court of Accounts did not receive from Parpública in 2015 the founding document on the TAP privatization process,” the PCP’s request, voiced by MP Bruno Diaz during the hearing, reads. with former Economy Minister António Pires de Lima.

In addition, “for some reason that cannot be determined” with only the collection available, “the documentation sent by Parpública to the Commission in 2023 does not correspond in several points to the index of documents sent to the Court of Accounts in 2015”.

Thus, “in order to clarify the complex of doubts that have arisen and remain in the work” of the investigation commission, the PKP asked the TJC to “send a nominal and tangible list of all available documents and cases on the privatization of the TAR”. , “all documents and files sent by Parpública President Pedro Pinto on December 4, 2015”, and registration of submissions of additional documents sent to the TdC for the reprivatization of TAP.

The PCP also asks TdC to “certify in writing whether it has received and/or made requests for clarification from Parpública regarding the TAP capitalization process and relationship with Airbus.”

At Parpública, the PCP requested the sending of “an index of the documentation and files that it sent to the commission. [de inquérito] and that he sent to the Accounts Chamber in 2015”, “written clarifications on all requests received and responses about the TAP capitalization process from 2015 to the present” and that he again sent all documents related to Airbus funds. .

At a hearing in Pires de Lima, the former minister was asked if he was aware of what was then classified as an “administrative error” about former TAP president Fernando Pinto’s infiltration of Atlantic Gateway before the 2015 privatization was completed.

“On November 4 or 6, engineer Fernando Pinto showed up as a member of the Atlantic Gateway management and immediately demanded his resignation as it was in line with an administrative error,” Pires de Lima said, suggesting that despite the error, it was “unfortunate because , in fact, ANAC [Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil] Fernando Pinto was expected to take over Atlantic Gateway once the privatization is complete.”

When questioned by PSD MP Paulo Ríos de Oliveira, the former ruler said that he could only “congratulate the current socialist government on its commitment to privatizing TAP”, noting, however, that the circumstances were very different from 2015.

Highlighting the “very positive results” achieved by the airline, the issue of privatizing TAP returned in its time by Cheg’s deputy Filipe Melo, opining Pires de Lima that “it is at a time when the company is on this positive trajectory that one should try to sell”.

“In this respect, all people who have had public duties end up coming to the same conclusion,” he said, recalling that several years ago António Costa “advocated that it should be public.”

However, according to Pires de Lima, after the rulers “have been in power for several years, studying the dossier, they come to the conclusion that it is preferable for TAR to have a private partner than to belong exclusively to state capital” .

Asked about ME Brasil, the former official said former TAP administrator Lacerda Machado is “a little alone” in his opinion of the operation.

While doing “the autopsy of this business”, Pires de Lima mentioned that it was worth “one billion euros”, expressing his opinion, according to former PS leaders such as Mario Centeno, Pedro Nuno Santos or Joao Leao, because “the business in Brazil was very negative for TAP. “.

Asked why the government he was part of did not address the issue, Pires de Lima explained that his executive’s priority was “privatization of TAP”, which would transfer the problem from ME Brasil to “a new shareholder structure”.