Pedro Nuno Santos denies giving instructions to buy CTT shares

PS Secretary-General Pedro Nuno Santos on Wednesday denied that he had given instructions to the Ministry of Finance or Parpública to buy CTT shares as infrastructure minister and sent clarifications on the matter to the government.

“I was in charge of the department, but I am not the one who gives instructions to the Minister of Finance and the Parpublic,” said Pedro Nuno Santos, adding: “There are no instructions from the Ministry of Infrastructure or the Minister of Infrastructure.”

According to the Secretary General of the PS, whom the media approached about this while walking briskly along the corridors of the Assembly of the Republic, after leaving the plenary session, “the government must give an explanation.”

Faced with persistent demands from journalists, he repeated that he had to “ask the government a question.”

The journal Jornal Económico reported on Tuesday that the previous government, without disclosing it, instructed Parpública to buy CTT shares on the orders of then-Finance Minister João Leão.

In accordance with Economic JournalThis “purchase occurred after the demands of the Left Bloc to approve the state budget for 2021.”

The Left Bloc, through its coordinator Mariana Mortagua and parliamentary leader Pedro Filipe Soares, has already denied that it knew about this purchase of shares or had any negotiations with the then government on this matter, emphasizing that it is known that its position is in favor of the renationalization of the STT.

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

This Wednesday, at a press conference, the PSD Secretary General demanded that Prime Minister António Costa make public the financial order for the purchase of STT shares, and also asked Pedro Nuno Santos to give an explanation, suggesting that he was involved in it. decision as Minister of Infrastructure.

Hugo Soares stated that the purchase of STT shares “must be carried out in accordance with the law, by a joint decision of the Ministry of Finance and the ministry responsible for this sectoral area”, so it will be done “with the approval, with the agreement and possibly under the guidance” of the then minister infrastructure of Pedro Nuno Santos.

Chega and the Liberal Initiative have scheduled debates in the Assembly of the Republic on Wednesday and Thursday on the purchase of CTT shares by Parpública, and have also asked Pedro Nuno Santos for clarification.

Cega President Andre Ventura said there was “strong evidence that there was a deliberate and clearly articulated political action, at least between PS and BE, as a bargaining chip for the state budget to buy CTT shares.”

“We want political clarification, in this case from Pedro Nuno Santos and the socialist government, about whether the Parpublica was a political instrument serving political interests, to the detriment of its independence and existential motivation,” he said, in turn, President of the Liberal Rui Rocha initiatives.

The Liberal Initiative’s chart also covers Efacec and TAP and is based on the state’s business sector being “poorly managed”.

ABOUT Business magazine reported on Wednesday afternoon that “the purchase of CTT shares by Parpública was agreed with the PCP” to “try to hold back the communists, to make OE 2021 viable and to restore a position in the post office that would give the government space to renegotiate the concession.”

After the news was released, PCP parliamentary leader Paula Santos told reporters in the Assembly of the Republic that her party had been informed about the purchase of STT shares, but did not consider it relevant because it did not consider it relevant. ensure public control over society.