Fernando Medina will come to the TAP Commission of Inquiry this Friday (from 11 a.m.) to explain the appointment of Alexandra Reis to the government, months after she left the company with a compensation of 500,000 euros, and the exoneration of the former presidents of the airline.
The hearing with the Treasury Secretary is the latest envisaged by the Commission of Inquiry, of about six dozen that the deputies deemed necessary to clarify political custody of TAP’s management, which began March 29.
Fernando Medina took office as finance minister on March 30 last year, roughly a month after the departure of former TAP director Alexandra Reis, with compensation of half a million euros, to which he would not be entitled.
After a short stint as President of NAV Portugal — Navegação Aérea, Alexandra Reis was invited at the end of the year to join Fernando Medina’s team, taking on the position of Secretary of State for Finance, a position that she resigned following news of the controversial fee in December.
At a hearing in the parliamentary budget and finance committee in January, Fernando Medina said he met Alexandra Reis once, before being invited to the government, and stressed that the former secretary of state is not part of the group of friends, in January reply to questions about the relationship between his wife and former legal director of TAP, Stéphanie Sá Silva, and Alexandra Reis.
The protagonist of the controversial fee said in April at a hearing before the Commission of Inquiry that his relationship with the wife of the finance minister was “strictly professional”.
Fernando Medina also reiterated that “no data has been found” in his ministry on the compensation received by Alexandra Reis, justifying her choice for the government because she has a “well established curriculum in Portuguese public management”.
On March 6, Fernando Medina and the Minister of Infrastructure, João Galamba, announced at a press conference that, given the conclusions of an audit by the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF), they had decided to appoint the Executive President of the TAP, Christine Ourmières- Widener, as well as the chairman of the board, Manuel Beja.
According to SIC, the former executive president, who had a mandate until 2026, will challenge the resignation in court and, if ruled in her favor, the payment of substantial compensation could be at stake.
Source: DN
