PCP stated that they were informed about the purchase of STT shares, but did not consider it relevant

The PKP’s parliamentary leader said on Wednesday that the party had been informed of the purchase of CTT shares by Parpública, a decision that the communists did not consider appropriate, saying that “public control” of the postal service was necessary.

“We were provided with this information, but as we said, we never considered it relevant and never considered it to be relevant,” Paula Santos said in an address to reporters in parliament.

According to the PCP, “public oversight of the CTT was required.”

The leader of the communist parliament said that “the acquisition of a small percentage of shares does not guarantee public control over the company.”

“If there were any signals from the PS, they were definitely not to the PCP, because the PCP had always put public control of the company and the abolition of privatization on the table. But this did not happen,” he said. .

Deputy Paula Santos recalled that “as part of the discussion of the state budget for 2021, the PKP presented a specific proposal to abolish the privatization and public control of the CTT company, which was rejected by the dissenting votes of the PS, PSD, CDS. , Il and Chega”.

“Therefore, despite various statements by PS members, the truth is that the PS has never really had the desire to ensure public control over KTT. And I remember that the concession agreement was ending, the PKP presented at the Assembly several initiatives of the Republic for this purpose and were systematically rejected,” said Paula Santos.

The magazine Jornal Económico reported that the previous government, without disclosing it, instructed Parpública to buy CTT shares on the orders of then Finance Minister João Leão. This newspaper wrote that “the purchase occurred after BE’s demands” to approve the state Budget for 2021, however, the party denied.

The magazine Jornal de Negócios also reported this Wednesday that the purchase of CTT shares by Parpública has been discussed with the PCP and “it will have two goals: to try to abstain from the communists in order to make the OE 2021 viable, and to restore a position in the Correios that will give the government free rein to revision of the terms of the concession.”

The PSD demanded this Wednesday the financial order for the purchase of CTT shares, while Chega and the Liberal Initiative have scheduled debates for Wednesday and Thursday next week in the Assembly of the Republic to seek clarification regarding the purchase of shares from CTT by Parpública. The three parties sought clarification from PS Secretary General Pedro Nuno Santos.

However, PS Secretary General Pedro Nuno Santos denied that he gave instructions to the Ministry of Finance or Parpública to purchase shares of CTT while he was Minister of Infrastructure and sent clarifications on this matter to the government.

The STTs were privatized between 2013 and 2014 by the PSD/CDS-PP government during the period of external financial assistance from Portugal.

The 2021 government budget was approved in a final global vote on November 26, 2020, with votes for PS, abstentions from PCP, PAN, PEV and unregistered MPs Cristina Rodriguez and Joacine Catar Moreira, and no votes from PSD. BE, SDS-PP, Chega and IL.

In a statement, Parpublique said on Wednesday that “the purchase of shares in CTT, carried out before October 2021, took place in accordance with legal requirements,” saying it was done on the orders of then Finance Minister João Leão, and with a positive opinion from UTAM.

Parpública said it owns “355,126 shares of CTT acquired on the stock exchange in 2021, corresponding to 0.24% of the company’s capital.”