Past TAP privatisation deal may shake Portuguese Commissioner nominee
The TAP privatisation deal, sealed under the watch of then-finance minister Maria Lusi Alburquerque, Portugal’s incoming European commissioner, is under investigation by the Portuguese Public Prosecutor’s office.
A recent report by the General Inspection of Finance reveals that David Neeleman’s Atlantic Gateway bought the Portuguese airline in 2015 with a $226 million loan from Airbus, with a guarantee given by TAP itself.
Concretely, in exchange for the loan, TAP would buy 53 airplanes from Airbus, and it commit to pay back $226 million, exactly the amount of the loan, if it did not succeed in buying the planes.
The strategy would allow for the circumvention of Portuguese law, which forbids the transfer of loans or funds to a third party in order for them to acquire their own shares.
According to the report, the entire operation was previously presented to the centre-right government ruling at the time, where Maria Luis Albuquerque, recently proposed as Portugal’s Commissioner, was minister of finance.
The document was sent to the Central Department of Criminal Investigation and Prosecution on Thursday, where it was added to an ongoing inquiry, as reported by SIC Notícias and Lusa.
In the national parliament, the opposition parties requested the audit of Maria Luis Albuquerque, which can take place in the coming weeks.
Albuquerque will also have to face a hearing as commissioner-designate in the European Parliament in mid-October.
Currently, TAP is owned by the Portuguese State, but the former socialist government approved the sale of at least 51%, which will be carried out by the new administration.
(Bárbara Machado | Euractiv.com)
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