"Contrary to what is stated in the PCP's own request, the decision to reprivatise TAP is really a decision for the country, for the country's economy, for national sovereignty in the face of the airline's strategic position", defended João Galamba.

"The Communists consider the sale of the majority capital of the airline "a crime against the country's economy and against national sovereignty".

The Minister of Infrastructure also assured that the reprivatisation process now underway "will not be like the damaging process of 2015, behind closed doors".

João Galamba also said that the idea that the state injection of 3,200 million euros into the airline, after the difficulties aggravated by the covid-19 pandemic, is related to the increase in public participation agreed in 2016, when the PS Government partially reversed the privatisation carried out by the PSD/CDS-PP is false.

"This Government did not at any time have any fixation on the nationalisation of the company," said the official, adding that "even if TAP was 100% private in 2020, it would still have to be rescued by the State," because private shareholders did not have the capital to invest in the company.

João Galamba also pointed out that TAP's true value will be reinforced with the choice of the location of the new airport.

The Government announced, on 28 September the intention to sell at least 51% of TAP's capital, reserving up to 5% for workers, and wants to approve the privatisation specifications by the end of the year, or "at the latest" in early 2024, in the Council of Ministers, hoping to have the operation completed in the first half of next year.

At a press conference, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, and the Minister of Infrastructure, João Galamba, presented the central strategic objectives of the sale of TAP, which include the maintenance and growth of the 'hub' (airport that serves as a passenger distribution centre), the growth of TAP, the investment and employment that the new investor can bring to Portugal in high-value activities in the aviation sector, the best use of the network of national airports, valuing and growing point-to-point operations, namely at Porto airport, and the price and value offered for the acquisition of the company's shares.

The concrete sale will, according to the Government, depend on the process of listening to the interested parties.

The Government has started the process of choosing the consultants who will assist the State in the operation.

Government can sell 51% or "much more"

The Minister of Infrastructure said today that the Government can either sell 51% of TAP's capital, or "much more", depending on the proposals and that, in theory, it is possible to better safeguard the strategic interest by selling 80%.

"The Government can either sell 51% or much more than 51%, depending on the proposals that are made. It is perfectly possible, in theory, that the strategic interest is better safeguarded by selling 80%, rather than only 51%, because it depends on the proposal", said João Galamba, who is being heard in the parliamentary committee on Economy, Public Works, Planning and Housing, on the announcement of the privatisation of TAP, after a mandatory request from the PCP.

The minister was responding to questions from deputy Carlos Guimarães Pinto, from the Liberal Initiative (IL) and added that many of the questions about the details of the deal that the Government intends to make will be answered, when the specifications are known and when the concrete proposals of those interested in the purchase are known.

At the beginning of the hearing - which the PS parliamentary group had failed, with the PCP taking the 'trump card' of the potestative request - João Galamba had assured the communist deputy Bruno Dias that the Government does not want "vulture funds to participate in the privatisation process", but rather "solid companies or consortia of solid companies".

Faced with the insistence of MP Isabel Pires, from the Left Bloc (BE), for the minister to explain how the Government will effectively guarantee the strategic interest of the country if it sells close to 100% of TAP, the Minister of Infrastructure repeated the examples of mergers of European companies in which the respective governments (Spanish, French, The Dutch and Irish countries) have ensured the strategic interests of each country, namely through the maintenance of the 'hub' (an airport that serves as a passenger distribution centre).

"It seems that all privatisation processes are horrible by definition. No, they don't have to be," Galamba replied to the blocking deputy.

The Government announced, on 28 September, the intention to sell at least 51% of TAP's capital, reserving up to 5% for workers, and wants to approve the privatisation specifications by the end of the year, or "at the latest" in early 2024, in the Council of Ministers, hoping to have the operation completed in the first half of next year.