Prime Minister António Costa said on Friday that the Council of Ministers will soon approve the resolution on the TAP privatization process, rejecting guarantees that it will be completed by the end of the year.
“Very soon, the Council of Ministers will adopt the resolution launching the evaluation process, after which the Decree-Law laying down the concrete terms of the privatization will be adopted,” said António Costa.
“All this will happen very soon, if it will be completed before the end of the year I cannot guarantee it,” he added.
The Prime Minister spoke on the sidelines of the signing of the cooperation protocol with the Repsol Foundation – Motor Verde + Floresta Project, in the Salão Nobre of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia de Lisboa, in Tapada da Ajuda, in Lisbon.
“I will indicate the horizons, because haste is generally a bad advisor and, above all, we must not send a signal to the markets that we are in too much of a hurry, otherwise we will certainly not move forward with the privatization process in the best of circumstances”he underlined.
The official recalled that an international consultancy carrying out an initial assessment of the market noted the interest of several companies and European groups in TAP and was able to integrate the Portuguese airline into a global strategy.
“For us there are fundamental conditions [na privatização da TAP]. Most important of all has to do with what justified our intervention at TAP, which was to maintain a major asset for our economy and a strategic ‘hub’ for Portugal, namely for Atlantic relations and with Africa,” he concluded.
António Costa’s statements come on the day Luís Rodrigues took office as Chairman of the Board (PCA) and Executive Chairman (CEO) of TAP, replacing Christine Ourmières-Widener.
Asked about the new government’s mandate, the prime minister claimed that it is “determined in the contract that Portugal has signed with the European Commission, regarding the restructuring plan and the timetable” regarding the privatization of the company.
According to the head of government, Luís Rodrigues is a “personality of recognized merit and prestige in civil aviation”.
“When it was chosen, I noted with great satisfaction that there was no criticism except some jealousy of losing this property at SATA, but it was the subject of conversation between me and the President of the Regional Government [dos Açores] who, of course, lamented the loss of SATA’s president, but understood the government’s choice,” he noted.
António Costa warned that it is time to give “confidence, serenity and tranquility” to TAP’s management so that it can fulfill its function, comply with the restructuring plan and create the best conditions for the privatization process.
On Thursday, the chairman of the Securities Market Commission (CMVM) said TAP is not required to inform the market about the privatization process because it is a bond issuer, not a publicly traded company.
“In the event that there are obligations, there is no need to provide this information to the market, as it does not interfere with what is relevant” to investors, which is the value of the obligation and the ability to receive the obligation said Luís Laginha de Sousa, in TAP’s parliamentary inquiry committee.
Source: DN
