Pedro Nuno Santos says he was the only one in the last 50 years to let TAP and CP make a profit

Former Infrastructure and Housing Minister Pedro Nuno Santos begins by speaking to the Economy Committee on Tuesday on the issue of TAP’s privatization. “It’s good that the company belonged to the private sector. And it’s bad that the company belonged to the state. This is the clearest way to sum up 2015.“, throws.

Pedro Nuno Santos alleges that PSD made “a bad deal in TAP that hurt the public interest”. “This was another bad deal that the state made under the leadership of PSD and CDS,” he says.

The former infrastructure minister claims it is “possible” that the country was swindled with the Airbus deal for TAP and that if confirmed, a contract renegotiation should be demanded.

“The check is serious enough that we ignored it and continued to do checks, as if we did not know that there was a check that says that it is possible that we were all deceived. And I tell everyone: that TAP was deceived, that the SDP government was deceived, that the country was deceived,” he said.

The former ruler added that if the veracity of the evidence provided in the verification of the Airbus deal by former TAP private shareholder David Neeleman is confirmed, indicating the possibility that the airline is paying above the market price, you should “demand contract renegotiation.”

Pedro Nuno Santos stated that in the last 50 years “there is no other minister” who “can boast” of having left his duties in TAP and CP “having made a profit”, and emphasized “great pride in the work” done by the government for ” save TAP” by proving that “TAP, a public company, can make a profit.”

“It was no coincidence, because in the year that TAP made a profit, we also managed to make a profit for CP for the first time in our history. There is no longer a government or a minister who, in the last 50 years, can boast of having left his duties with TAP and CP, making a profit,” he stressed.

When asked by the deputies, the former Minister of Infrastructure stated that “the restructuring plan was not, was not and is not fully public, because it could not be made available to TAP’s competitors.”

€55m paid to David Neeleman became ‘collection point’ to avoid litigation

Pedro Nuno Santos said the 55 million euros paid to former TAP shareholder David Nieleman to leave the company became a “meeting point” between parties in disagreement to avoid litigation.

“55 million euros are the result of negotiations, […] was a meeting point between two parties that essentially had no agreement,” Pedro Nuno Santos, who is being heard in parliament, told the economy commission, adding that “the reference to the state was what was understood as a litigation risk.

The former leader also recalled that in 2020, when TAP faced difficulties due to the covid-19 pandemic, an emergency aid of 1,200 million euros was approved under conditions put forward by the state, which was rejected by the TAP board of directors. , with six directors abstaining.

For the government, he continued, one of the two remaining options was to nationalize the airline.

“We were ready to nationalize the company, but we did not want to, because nationalization also has its price. […] We did everything to avoid nationalization, and therefore negotiations were started with the private sector, which more clearly blocked – did not agree, but okay – with the conditions of the state to lend,” said Pedro Nuno Santos.

Thus, the government proceeded to acquire the stake of David Nieleman, who will own the majority of TAP’s capital in 2020, in the form of a total assistance of 3,200 million euros and the implementation of the company’s restructuring plan, which included layoffs and pay cuts, is still in place.

Pedro Nuno Santos says backing didn’t require money back

A former minister, he insisted that the TAP support mechanism does not require a return on investment, adding that there is still “a full vision of how the pandemic will develop.”

“The money will not be returned to the Portuguese, and it was about a loan. Loans, emergency assistance, that was a mechanism, it was a model. It is called a loan. But we all knew. But who denied it?” Committee on Economics, Public Works, Planning and Housing.

Pedro Nuno Santos added that at the time of the injection of money, the government did not have “a full picture of what the evolution of the pandemic would be,” but there was an idea that “a significant part of this loan will turn into capital.”

The Portuguese airline found itself in a “totally unbalanced” situation in terms of capital and debt, according to a former infrastructure minister.

“We had a company soaked in debt, we had a company with negative capital, and, obviously, the normal consequence is that some of these loans are used to clean up, as they say, the balance sheet, to strengthen equity,” he stressed. in response to the Liberal Initiative (IL).

Pedro Nuno Santos denies restructuring plan was a disaster

The former infrastructure minister dismissed the idea that TAP’s restructuring plan was a disaster and stressed that he was the one who saved the airline in 2020.

“The restructuring plan was not a disaster, the restructuring plan saved TAP,” the former minister replied to BE MP Mariana Mortagua at a hearing in the parliamentary committee on the economy.

The blockade MP asked the former governor about the layoffs and pay cuts applied to the airline as part of the restructuring that accompanied the injection of 3,200 million euros.