PS Secretary General Pedro Nuno Santos confirmed that he is aware of the deal to purchase CTT shares by Parpública and agrees with the measures taken.
“I never said that I didn’t know about this process. Obviously, I knew and obviously I agree with what was done,” he said, also noting that he did not lead the process.
remember, thatThe STT was privatized between 2013 and 2014 by the PSD/CDS-PP government during the period of external financial assistance from Portugal.
ABOUT Economic newspaper reported on Wednesday that the previous government, without disclosing it, had instructed Parpública to buy CTT shares on the orders of then Finance Minister João Leão.
According to the same source, this “purchase occurred after the demands of the Left Bloc to approve the state budget for 2021.”
According to Pedro Nuno Santos, the privatization was “catastrophic” and the opposition should apologize rather than worry about the 0.24% stake. The socialist claims that The sale of all STT assets caused “very serious” problems.
“Privatization was disastrous and deeply damaging to national interests. The SDP should apologize for the privatization process and not worry about 0.24% shares,” he said.
This Thursday in Braga, PSD leader Luis Montenegro classified the issue of the purchase of CTT shares as “vagrant” and accused Pedro Nuno Santos of intending to “shake the waters out of the cape” in this process.
Pedro Nuno Santos reacted: “I want to regret that the PSD leader decided to enter into political struggle.”
“There are limits, we must respect our opponents, and I respect Luis Montenegro. There are things that I do not do, from the very beginning attributing to my opponent statements that he did not make,” added the new Socialist leader.
Regarding the option to purchase a 0.24% stake in CTT, chosen by then Finance Minister João Leão, the PS secretary general clarified his position: “Obviously, I knew and agreed with what was done.”
As for the government’s reasons for keeping this procurement operation secret, the PS leader said: “I think I know it was a way to ensure that prices were not inflated.”
“We didn’t want to announce it publicly because we wanted to avoid having to buy more expensive shares later. Processes must comply with the law. The state, up to a certain percentage, can make this purchase without informing the Market about it. And from that moment on, national interests were protected,” he said.
As for the reasons that prompted the government to subsequently not buy more shares in STT, the former minister said he was not aware of the reasons for this subsequent option.
In the presence of journalists, the PS leader tried, first of all, to make a political attack on the privatization of STT carried out by the leader of the SDP/CDS, saying that this company, when it was owned by the state, “was profitable.”
“Today it makes less profit, and those profits belong to the private sector, not to all of us. When it was public it provided quality services, the Portuguese loved and loved CTT, but today it is a company that does not meet the quality indicators to which it is subject and is the subject of complaints. The country and the Portuguese have gained nothing from this privatization,” said Pedro Nuno Santos.
The Socialist leader also protested against the way the privatization was carried out by the executive led by Pedro Passos Coelho, since the STT postal service was given a concession and all the assets necessary to provide this service were sold, in contrast to what is happening with roads or airports.
“The knife and the cheese remained in the hands of the private sector. Ultimately, if the private sector decides that it does not want to provide a universal postal service, the government will not be able to provide it because it does not have the network. In short, “This was a disastrous privatization that caused deep damage to the national interest,” he charged.
Therefore, according to Pedro Nuno Santos, “the PSD should be concerned and apologize for the privatization process, rather than worry about the 0.24% shares of CTT.”
Author: morning Post This Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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