“We have already responded to TAP that it is up to the company to make this calculation”said the Director General of Finance and Finance, Maria João Araújo, who is being heard in the parliamentary committee of inquiry into the airline.
The responsible person answered questions from the blockade deputy Mariana Mortágua, following statements made by the former chairman of the board of directors, Manuel Beja, who said during his hearing in the investigative committee, when he was still in office, that TAP was waiting for DGTF instructions on the amount to be refunded by Alexandra Reis.
Alexandra Reis had informed the committee of inquiry that she had only returned the compensation at that time, because she was waiting for an indication of the value from TAP.
The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry was set up following the news of the €500,000 compensation to Alexandra Reis for leaving TAP early, which was being negotiated under the Code of Commercial Companies, not under the Statute of State Manager.
According to that statute, only directors who have been in office for at least 12 months can be compensated, which is not the case.
The person responsible was also questioned by the Social Democratic deputy Paulo Moniz about the unanimous statement also signed by the DGTF to proceed with the exoneration of the former executive president and the former chairman of the board of directors of TAP, stating mentions that Christine Ourmières-Widener asked to hear six witnesses from his side, in the context of an adversarial procedure, which the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) did not consider necessary.
Regarding this matter, Maria João Araújo stated that “the DGTF was authorized to sign that declaration”, by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, as an integrated service that implements the decisions of the government.
Responding to Deputy Filipe Melo, from Chega, the official added that “the IGF was responsible for making the report, listening to those who understood that they had to listen”.
When asked whether it was understood that the press conference of March 6, in which Fernando Medina and the Minister of Infrastructure announced the exoneration of the former presidents of TAP for justifiable reasons, made the decision irreversible, the director-general considered that that conference ” it wasn’t the resignation because [esta] must work with a unanimous written resolution.’ ‘A conference [de imprensa] don’t fire anyone,” he stressed.
When asked by Mariana Mortágua whether a request had already been made to the DGTF prior to the press conference to operationalize the exemption, the person in charge said no.
Source: DN
