Government announces merger of Transtejo and Soflusa before the end of the year

The Minister of Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, announced this Wednesday the merger before the end of the year of the companies Transtejo and Soflusa, which provide river transport between Lisbon and the southern coast.

“I can guarantee to this committee that by the end of the year we will dissolve Soflusa and Transtejo will merge the assets and liabilities of the company and its employees. This is the promised merger,” the minister said.

Duarte Cordeiro spoke at a parliamentary hearing before the Committee on Economy, Public Works, Planning and Housing within the framework of requests submitted by PCP, PSD, PS, BE and IL regarding the “acquisition of Transtejo electric ships and batteries.”

In his first speech, the Minister mentioned that when the Government came into office, it was convinced that there was no point in retaining two river operators operating in the same region and both responsible for the provision of public transport services.

“This division did not make sense,” he said.

The merger of the two companies, the official assures, will harmonize conditions for workers and increase management flexibility, both in terms of human resources and equipment.

Duarte Cordeiro added that from a technical point of view, this is not a merger, but a dissolution with integration into another company, which will protect all the labor interests of the workers.

Regarding the staff of both companies, Duarte Cordeiro explained that at the end of this year the staff will number 461 employees, which is 5% more than at the end of last year.

Thanks to integration, he believes, “there will also be more efficient management of human resources.”

In view of this statement, which was already considered by the Minister at a hearing in February and confirmed this Wednesday, PCP MP Bruno Diaz warned of the need to ensure that there are no pollution problems between companies, questioning whether measures are being taken to recruit workers to meet the needs already identified today .

“Management flexibility during a merger will lead to a situation that can easily happen, that is, problem contamination. If today is bad, tomorrow will be even worse and the blanket will be short,” said Bruno Diaz.

Duarte Cordeiro replied that the process of hiring workers is underway.

“In September 2023, the two companies together employed 438 workers, the highest since 2018. Our goal is not only this: if everything goes well and we are successful in open competitions, we want to cover 460 employees in the universe of both companies,” explained the minister

The minister’s presence at the parliamentary committee concludes a hearing process that brought to parliament the previous and current chairmen of Transtejo’s board of directors, Marina Ferreira and Alexandra Ferreira de Carvalho, respectively, as well as former environment minister Matos Fernandez. .

The battery purchase process led to the dismissal of Transtejo management in March after the Court of Auditors (TdC) accused the company of a “lack of truth” and illegal and irrational actions.

The deal was about the purchase of nine batteries worth 15.5 million euros (ME) as part of an additional contract to another contract, previously under the control of TdC, for the purchase for 52.4 ME of ten new ships with working propulsion batteries (one of them already with battery, on trial) to ensure public passenger transport between the two banks of the Tagus.

On October 20, the Court of Auditors gave the green light to a contract for the supply of batteries for installation on nine Transtejo electric-powered vessels under construction, which has now been awarded to Astilleros Godán SA at a price of €15,999,750 plus VAT at the current rate.

Transtejo is responsible for connecting Seixal, Montijo, Casillas and Trafaria/Porto Brandan in Setúbal District to Lisbon, while Soflusa crosses the line between Barreiro, also in Setúbal District, and Terreiro do Paço in Lisbon.

Currently, companies have a unified management.