The President of the Republic said on Tuesday that he concluded from the Prime Minister’s statements on TAP on Monday that the privatization decree would be changed to address the concerns that justified his veto.
“I understand from what the Prime Minister said yesterday. [segunda-feira]which he [António Costa] ready to satisfy these concerns,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Souza in Chisinau during his official visit to the Republic of Moldova.
The head of state considered that there is “time to work on a diploma” so that “some steps are taken by law that do not leave in the future only in the social pact what can already be somehow protected.”
On Monday, the prime minister assured parliament that unless TAP’s Lisbon hub and “strategic function” were secured, the airline’s privatization would not move forward.
In response to the PKP in the debate on the 2024 state budget as a whole, António Costa stressed that the government has already “very well defined the criteria for the privatization of TAR”, with “the last criterion being the price” and the first being the “maintenance of the strategic importance” of the company for the national economy and Lisbon hub.
“So I can calmly tell you: if in this hypothesis that you put forward, the Lisbon hub is not guaranteed and the strategic function is not guaranteed, then in this case there will be no privatization,” he said.
The head of the executive branch assured that “privatization will take place in strict compliance with the strategic purpose of TAR.”
“That’s why we acquired the necessary part of the capital in 2015, that’s why we increased the capital in 2020 and not now, during privatization, we will sell what has been achieved,” he said.
António Costa, however, emphasized that “to achieve this goal it is not necessary to have 100% of the capital or even 51% of the capital, it depends on who the partner is and on what kind of social contract there is between the partners.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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