In June, the Lusa agency reported on a contract between the Coimbra City Council and Israeli-American entrepreneur Nirit Harel, valued at 67,500 euros with an execution period of six months, which was only concluded in January 2025. At that time, neither the municipality nor the entrepreneur clarified the results of the service provided.
During today’s executive meeting, led by the coalition Juntos Somos Coimbra (PSD/CDS-PP/NC/PPM/Aliança/RIR/Volt), PS councilor Rui Alírio criticized the absence of “publicly presented concrete results of the work done,” asserting that there are “no clear answers” regarding the service.
“This lack of information raises serious concerns, particularly when public funds and a strategic goal like attracting investment and businesses to Coimbra are at stake,” he noted.
Alírio also criticized the municipality for not clarifying its relationship with the CoimbraTech Challenge initiative, which was supposed to take place in June but was postponed without explanation. He recalled that the brand “Baixinova,” presumably linked to this event, was registered by Nirit Harel, a registration contested by the municipality.
“Moreover, in her public communication, the entrepreneur continues to call herself an advisor to the Coimbra City Council for international development, despite no current contractual link being known,” he observed, adding that Coimbra “cannot afford to waste time on opaque initiatives with no results.”
In response, Coimbra City Council President José Manuel Silva stated that the international promotion contract — declared concluded by the municipality in January — “is ongoing” and will result in the CoimbraTech Challenge, “an international competition for startups intending to establish in the area.”
“It was scheduled but had to be postponed due to international instability,” he explained, asserting that the municipality is doing “what has never been done before.”
In his remarks, José Manuel Silva did not clarify, in response to Rui Alírio’s inquiries, the current contractual or institutional relationship between the municipality and Nirit Harel or the council’s position on the “Baixinova” brand.
