It was with sharp criticism of the PSD/CDS government and the privatization of TAP in 2015 that Pedro Nuno Santos broke his silence today, almost six months after stepping down as Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, following the case of compensation from paid half a million euros to Alexandra Reis.
(Follow Pedro Nuno Santos’ audition live here).
The former ruler asked for a review of the contracts with Airbus and criticized the deal made by the former shareholder, David Neeleman, in the 2015 privatization. “We know that TAP has asked for an audit. Audit indicates that it is very it is probable that the capitalization was actually financed by TAP The audit is serious enough to ignore it and continue with the audits. It could be that we’ve all been duped: TAP, the government and the country. Then we cannot ignore the information”, he said in his opening speech at the Committee on Economy, Public Works, Planning and Housing, this Tuesday, June 6.
Pedro Nuno Santos asked for the responsibility of the international aircraft manufacturer. “We should all demand that contracts be reviewed, Airbus has that responsibility to the country. It is a fundamental issue that goes beyond the struggle and the political struggle, we need to make sure it has an impact and contracts are renegotiated,” he reiterated.
The former minister also threw barbs at the government of Pedro Passos Coelho, guaranteeing that the sale of TAP to Atlantic Gateway “didn’t rid the country of the weight that TAP was”. “It didn’t happen. TAP was sold for 10 million euros. It could be an acceptable deal from a financial point of view if the PSD said that the private company would be responsible for all the company’s debts. It didn’t happen. Letters of consolation were signed that have practical consequences, in which the State undertakes to buy back TAP, that is to say that the State was responsible not only for the underlying debt of 600 million euros, but also for all debts incurred in the meantime. , accused he.
“The sale that was made meant that if the company went well the capital gains belonged to the private sector, if it went wrong the state paid. For the good the company belonged to the private sector and for the bad it belonged to the state ‘ he criticized.
Pedro Nuno Santos, whose deputy mandate is currently suspended, said during this first intervention that the “will to respond has been great over the past six months” given the “much that has been said and written”. But he stressed that he will only speak on issues related to compensation for Alexandra Reis at TAP’s Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) in a week, on the next 15th.
Source: DN
