The Government highlighted that the privatization process of the company concluded in 2015, when Miguel Pinto Luz was Secretary of State for Infrastructures, Transport and Communications, “was scrutinized by the Court of Auditors and the Assembly of the Republic through a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission,” considering this exercise “essential in a state of law” and should be viewed “as an essential element of a healthy and modern democracy.”
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing also emphasized that it is “absolutely focused on the current privatization process of TAP, with the deadline for submitting Purchase Intent Proposals ending on November 22.”
TAP, Grupo Barraqueiro, and Parpública are currently being targeted by the PJ, with various media outlets pointing to alleged crimes in the privatization concluded in 2015.
The Attorney General’s Office confirmed in September of last year the reception of the report from the Inspectorate General of Finances regarding the privatization of TAP in 2015 and forwarded the document to the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP).
The inquiry in question was opened in February 2023 and resulted from the participation initiated by Fernando Medina and Pedro Nuno Santos, then Ministers of Finance and Infrastructure and Housing (PS), respectively.
In mid-October 2022, Pedro Nuno Santos disclosed that the TAP administration had requested an audit due to suspicions of paying more for airplanes than competitors, and the Government forwarded the conclusions to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
One of the most discussed topics in the 2023 Parliamentary Inquiry Commission into the Political Oversight of TAP Management was the so-called Airbus funds, a deal involving the DGN company, led by David Neeleman, with the aircraft manufacturer, which involved canceling a previous contract for leasing 12 A350 planes and establishing a new one for acquiring 53 aircraft of another range.
In the context of this deal, Airbus provided capital credits to DGN worth $226.75 million (195.5 million euros at current exchange rates), intended to be channeled to TAP through Atlantic Gateway.
Throughout the CPI sessions, various deputies questioned witnesses about their knowledge of the operation, considering that TAP’s capitalization in 2015 was made with the company’s own funds.
The Atlantic Gateway consortium, composed of shareholders David Neeleman and Portuguese entrepreneur Humberto Pedrosa, won TAP’s privatization, finalized at the end of the PSD/CDS-PP government, an operation partially reversed in 2015 by António Costa’s (PS) administration.
At that time, the political oversight of TAP was the responsibility of the current Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, who was then Secretary of State for Infrastructures, Transport, and Communications.
[Updated at 13h57]
