“Under the provisions of Law No. 2/99 of January 13, in its current wording, we, as former managers of the National Library of Portugal (BNP), hereby exercise the legitimate right of reply to the article published on Notícias ao Minuto on 19.07.2025, entitled ‘National Library recovers amphitheater with PRR funds,’ regarding the following statement about the PRR: ‘When I arrived at the library [in April 2024] 11% had been executed. At the moment, we are around 60%…, assured Diogo Ramada Curto.’
1. It is false that the execution of the BNP’s PRR stood at 11% when Ramada Curto took over the leadership on 22.04.2024. The PRR financing contract of the BNP was signed on 29.12.2021, for an amount of 7.4 million euros for the digitization of 20 million images of its collections. By the end of April 2024, the PRR was executed at 50.15% regarding the number of digitized images (10,029,139), and at 26.41% (1,954,658.18 €) of the total funding.
2. For the execution of the PRR, the previous administration initiated procedures that enabled that execution and continued it after April 2024: In 2022-2023, the BNP entered into 13 contracts, corresponding to 32.48% of the total funding and 83.98% of the global target of 20 million images. Between January and April 2024, procedures for 4 new contracts were launched, valued at an additional 9.64% of the total funding, subsequently signed by the new Director.
3. Thus, when Ramada Curto assumed office, 42.12% of the total funding was executed/in execution/or in the process of contracting, and contracts were signed to achieve 83.98% of the global digitization target by November 2024.
4. Moreover, in June 2024, before resigning, the Director of Services responsible for the PRR had prepared 2 new procedures, one of which was for more digitizations, aiming to reach 69.11% of the total funding and 113.48% of the digitization target. However, the digitization procedure was only launched on 07.03.2025 and is still not completed. 5. Data from the Recover Portugal Mission Structure indicated, as of 18.09.2024, that the BNP had 40% of the funding paid; and as of 16.07.2025, it was at 57%. These results derive from the execution and efforts left by the previous administration. From the current administration’s initiative, concerning the PRR, only one executed procedure/contract is known, valued at 36,800€, to acquire computers for BNP employees.”
