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“If we leave TAP, we will be violently attacked. If we save him, we are the same. “The press release from the Minister of Infrastructure marked the beginning of the debate on the State Budget proposal for 2021.
During the debate Pedro Nuno Santos admitted that the restructuring plan, when it is known, will be attacked on the left and right. And he revealed that the first phase of this plan is ready and will begin to be discussed shortly with trade unions and the European Commission. One of the measures being negotiated to reduce costs is the return of aircraft. Pedro Nuno Santos reiterated warnings already made in the past, especially in response to concerns raised on the left:
“We cannot maintain a size of TAP which would mean a very significant and unjustified loss of resources on the part of the market that we know we have. We will have to do the resizing. It is not possible to maintain an artificially high size because it is detrimental to the economy and to TAP’s survival. And we need a process of restructuring that is trustworthy and supported by the population. “
TAP was an essential topic in the budget debate, which was also marked by several questions on housing policy and on strengthening public supply.
National housing program to be delivered to parliament in 2021
Pedro Nuno Santos was also questioned about the CTT concession, which will expire at the end of this year, and he guaranteed that in the event of an extension of the contract, subsequently confirmed by the Secretariat of State for Communications, the company would have to continue to provide all obligations. contractual. Not excluding “any solution” at this stage, the minister also left the guarantee that the state will not be blackmailed by any private company.
The Minister of Infrastructure began by saying that the entire economy has been hit, but there are sectors that have suffered more than others. And the most affected is aviation, even before tourism, with a 70% drop in turnover. “It is no coincidence that all European countries have organized themselves to save their flag carriers”.
Therefore, he stressed, “we did not hesitate when we made a difficult decision. We would never have been welcomed ”. However, he added, a government must make decisions, even difficult ones. We knew the loss was tremendous for the economy ”. Pedro Nuno Santos says he didn’t want to say much more on the subject now – which was central to the debate – and has left several numbers for “serious debate”.
TAP was responsible for 2.6 billion euros of exports in 2019. “Ticket sales count as exports and 80% of passengers are foreigners. And Portuguese traveling buy from a Portuguese company and not from foreign companies. Likewise, we must not forget that TAP bought 1,300 million from Portuguese companies. Having the awareness and clarity to realize the importance is that we were able to have a serious discussion on the subject. “
PSD deputy Cristóvão Norte pushed for the TAP topic when he asked the first questions. Pedro Nuno Santos confirmed what has already been reported. The state loan of 1200 million euros will (practically) run out by the end of the year, as the government had already admitted on other occasions.
The Treasury plan reveals that TAP needs over 100 million a month until the end of the year
The additional aid to TAP (the budget proposal provides for an additional 500 million euros through a state guarantee for a loan) will only be defined in a restructuring plan that guarantees the European Commission the ten-year profitability of the company. It is in this framework “that we will identify the need for further injections. Only then, and in negotiations with the European Commission, will we identify the necessary value. The 1200 million euros were needed to guarantee liquidity during the drafting phase of the plan ”, the Minister of Infrastructure replies to the deputy PSD.
The restructuring plan, which will be presented for weeks, will estimate a time horizon for achieving economic equilibrium and for the repayment of part of the aid to the state that has become the majority shareholder.
One more response to the PSD. The minister is unaware of the arrival of new planes, but until he negotiates the return of some and reveals that there will be a change in the composition of the fleet in the restructuring plan. Then he added that the company received a plane that was paid for. The carrier arrived at the end of the year with around 100 aircraft and expects to receive more aircraft, especially long-haul, which is the segment most affected by the pandemic.
In the final responses to a debate that lasted more than seven hours, Pedro Nuno Santos also responded to MEPs who questioned insufficient supply from airports outside Lisbon. TAP will try to fly more from the port and Faro, but this has nothing to do with the Lisbon hub. TAP can only be traveled with the hub because it allows connection with the other in the Atlantic and in Europe, via Lisbon.
Right at the start of the debate, the minister was confronted with more concrete questions from the PSD.
- How much of the state aid went to operations in Brazil? The tranche serves only to finance the expenses billed to TAP and the company has to pay for the services to the suppliers, the lessors and there is a company that provides maintenance services, VEM. Pedro Nuno Santos indicated that 700 thousand euros were paid for services.
- What about the assumption of over 70 million euros of private debt? Since privatization, which “was not done by us”, the state has taken on responsibility for the historic debt of 500 million euros. We remain responsible even after partial cancellation. This amount was paid and was 170 million euros. But the state is now in control. “The private individual (Humberto Pedrosa) didn’t put a cent.” And before the question: will TAP be the new Novo Banco?
“We are faced with a choice and the choice we have made has a high cost. But the PSD has not yet answered if it wants to leave TAP ”.
The Minister of Infrastructure also realizes the position of the Liberal Initiative, which preferred to abandon TAP and have the market replace the company. But he challenged the PSD to take a stand to clarify the debate. “Not dropping TAP costs a lot of public money”, but saving the company and not financing this aid are “two things are not possible”.
Pedro Nuno Santos also pointed out the contradictions on the left that wants to keep jobs, even if there is no work. And in response to the PAN deputy who stressed that the state had already invested 1,200 million euros in the company, but wanted a guarantee on the defense of labor, the minister argued:
“Continuing to renew contracts and maintaining TAP’s structure would mean that we would have to add much more to the 1,200 million euros. Both are possible only from the point of view of the oratory ”.
TAP also motivated a lively exchange of words with André Ventura on the difference between layoffs (which Nuno Santos fired in the past) and non-renewal of contracts that ends with the unemployed, the minister admitted. Even with Chega’s deputy, spirits were more elated for state support in housing for families who, according to Ventura, hadn’t paid rents for 18 years. The minister
With João Cotrim de Figueiredo, the discussion was more ideological, with the Liberal Initiative deputy questioning the classification of a “dangerous Marxist” given to a government official running a company where the number of workers will be reduced.
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