Former minister Pedro Nuno Santos is being heard this Thursday before the TAP panel of inquiry on the disputed compensation for Alexandra Reis that caused her to leave the government.
Pedro Nuno Santos starts his speech by saying that he has been waiting for the audition for a long time. “This is the most difficult audition, a lot has been said in recent months. Much has happened beyond what is stated in the communiqué,” he notes, recalling that since his departure he has released two texts and has not spoken again.
The resignation “was not requested by anyone”
Former minister Pedro Nuno Santos explains that his resignation “was not demanded by anyone”, but it was clear to his team that he could not “pull in the government” when the Alexandra Reis compensation dispute flared up.
In his initial speech to the TAP Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, the former Minister of Infrastructure and Housing recalled that his resignation “was submitted four days after it became known,” referring to the controversy surrounding the compensation of 500 thousand euros to the former TAP administrator Alexandra Reis.
“We were in a Christmas period that took on a huge significance, and it became clear to us and my team that we couldn’t drag ourselves in government, on our own and with government,” he said, suggesting that it was “a very hard decision for those who have been involved in politics for many years, and for those who have been in government for many years.
“TAR was the most difficult, most complex and most carefully studied dossier that we had in our hands. Alexandra Reis compensation is less than 1% of what was done, but this is what made me leave, ”he justifies.
“The value is high in any country, especially in Portugal”
The former infrastructure minister explained that he was faced with an initial offer of compensation, which he found to be high. He made this estimate and was asked again with a different value, which he also considered high. “When they told me that it was impossible to download more, I gave the go-ahead,” he emphasizes.
Pedro Nuno Santos stressed that the €500,000 attributed cost is “high for any country, especially Portugal, but in line with TAP salaries.”
“It is not true that I ever said that I knew nothing, and it is not true that I knew everything. Today we look at these issues with a clarity and clarity that was not there then. Start. I won’t lie, because a lie seems more believable,” he said.
“I had no memory”
The former minister realized what a busy schedule he had when he had an infrastructure portfolio. “I had a lot of things on hand because of my position. I had no memory,” he claimed.
Seeing the compensation approval message, Pedro Nuno Santos did not immediately remember its content. “QWhen I saw the message, I didn’t remember it, but I had physical support who explained what happened. How often does it happen that they don’t remember “the content of the email?” he said.
“I gave myself body and soul to the TAP dossier”
Pedro Nuno Santos also said that TAP is under strong political and media pressure despite the airline’s profit and growth.
“I gave myself body and soul to the TAP dossier. I gave my body to the bullets. But I knew that the best way to contribute was not to interfere with management.”
“Fortunately, we managed to achieve results, unfortunately, everything went wrong, and the process of paying compensation to Alexandra Reis went wrong,” he concluded.
Pedro Nuno Santos authorized the departure of engineer Alexandra Reis after meeting with the former CEO.
In the first round of questions, the MP from the Liberal Initiative confronts Pedro Nuno Santos about the veracity of the facts presented in the communiqué he issued after the controversy. The former Minister of Infrastructure emphasizes that there are no lies in the text.
“I just gave permission. What would make me act differently? Alexandra Reis, an engineer, is leaving TAP because the CEO wanted to make changes to the executive committee, and there was no place,” he says.
‘I’m sorry’ about what happened to Alexandra Reis
Former minister Pedro Nuno Santos deplored what happened to Alexandra Reis, seeing her as “very competent, intelligent and hardworking” and hoping that she would quickly recover from the disagreement over compensation as it would be of benefit to anyone who wanted to work with her.
Former Minister of Infrastructure and Housing answers questions from Illinois Deputy Bernardo Blanco at the TAP Inquiry Committee about an “email” sent by Alexandra Reis listing vacancies before leaving with a €500,000 compensation and to which Pedro Nuno Santos replied not to respond.
“Engineer Alexandra Reis was a very competent TAP employee, very competent, intelligent, hardworking, I am very sorry about what happened to her and I hope she can quickly deal with this, because it will be useful to everyone who wants to work with her,” said the former minister, who resigned after a disputed compensation.
Pedro Nuno Santos was unaware of Airbus funds in negotiations with Nileman in 2020.
The former minister assured that he was not aware of the so-called Airbus funds when negotiations were held with David Nieleman in 2020, during which the state paid the former shareholder 55 million euros to exit the company.
“I took office in 2019, this process was a question that was not asked. […] When negotiations take place [com David Neeleman] there is no such clairvoyance,” Pedro Nuno Santos replied to PKP MP Bruno Diaz.
The PCP MP asked if the former Minister of Infrastructure and Housing was aware of the so-called Airbus funds at the time that David Neeleman’s departure from the airline was being negotiated in 2020, when the state paid the former businessman €55 million and regained strategic control of the company.
“When did you find out about this situation where David Nieleman bought TAP with the money that TAP was going to pay?” Bruno Diaz asked.
The deal between David Neeleman and Airbus allowed Atlantic Gateway (Neeleman’s consortium with Humberto Pedrosa, who won the PSD/CDS-PP government privatization) to capitalize the company with €226.75 million.
Former Secretary of State Sergio Monteiro told Parliament that he was convinced it was a commercial discount due to the size of the order.
Pedro Nuno Santos denies link between Alexandra Reis leaving TAP and joining NAV
The former minister denied any connection between former administrator Alexandra Reis’ departure from TAP and his move to NAV, saying it was “good” that he accepted this latest invitation..
During questioning by BE MP Pedro Filipe Soares, the former minister was asked if he was concerned that Alexandra Reis, after leaving TAP with a compensation of 500,000 euros, became president of NAV at the invitation of the government.
“The processes are not related to each other in any way. (…) Alexandra Reis goes to NAV because we had a failure in NAV, we did not have a president, she fulfilled the requirements and she was invited,” he said.
Pedro Nuno Santos said that if the government thought there was “something wrong” with the TAP exit process, it wouldn’t be about going to NAV, as there wouldn’t even be permission for an agreement with Alexandra Reis. the .
“I think that in the meantime, the lack of connection between the two situations was becoming apparent. There was a company that failed and the Secretary of State had a great idea and engineer Alexandra Reis was glad she took it on and she was still bad that she left,” he later told PS MP Hugo Carvalho.
Asked by BE MP why he didn’t check if Alexandra Reis returned part of the compensation when she returned to the position of state manager at NAV, Pedro Nuno Santos stressed that it was not her function.
“I thought it was the duty of a government manager,” he defended himself.
Asked if he thought €500,000 was too high to give the former CEO the team she wanted, Pedro Nuno Santos replied: “Life doesn’t work that way.”
Pedro Nuno Santos called Frederico Pinheiro.
As for Frederico Pinheiro, the deputy rehabilitated by the current Minister of Infrastructure Joao Galamba, involved in the scandalous case of the office computer that was restored by the Security Information Service (SIS), Pedro Nuno Santos said that if he was not satisfied with his work, I would not work with him for six years.
Asked by PSD MP Paulo Moniz if he spoke “several times” with Federico Pineiro on April 26, the night of problems at the Ministry of Infrastructure, after his dismissal, Pedro Nuno Santos confirmed that he called him to ask what happened. happened happened, thinking it was only once.
Author: morning Post This Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.