Let’s not repeat the same mistake! We still have time to stop the economic crime that is the privatisation of TAP.
A criminal investigation is underway into evidence of crimes committed during the process of the privatisation of TAP in 2015, but also during the period of private management, which the PCP denounced at the time because TAP was acquired by a private group with TAP's own money, and also denounced the excesses of private management.
All the privatisation processes that were completed ended with TAP going bankrupt and needing to be bailed out, otherwise it would no longer exist. TAP narrowly escaped disappearing with the bankruptcy of Swissair, and during the pandemic Mr Neelman fled, and if it had not been for public intervention, TAP would no longer exist today.
Those promoting the privatisation of TAP systematically belittle it, downplaying its importance in economic terms and in terms of territorial cohesion. But does anyone really believe that if TAP were not hugely valuable, there would be anyone interested in acquiring it? Of course not! There is so much interest in TAP because the company is worth a great deal. It is worth a lot in the aviation sector and it is worth a lot in the connections it provides. What they want is the same as always: to sell off strategic companies at bargain prices, completely disregarding the national interest, with the sole aim of favouring economic groups and their interests.
They say that the Portuguese people should recover the €3.2 billion invested in TAP, but they do not apply the same criteria to the more than €6 billion that was placed in Novo Banco/BES, or the €20 billion in private banks. That does not suit them, because it would jeopardise the interests of economic groups.
They deliberately conceal the fact that part of the €3.2 billion was used to plug the holes in the company left by the two privatisation processes, to pay for the Brazil Maintenance adventure and to overcome the losses resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. The other part went towards capitalising the company. And now that the company is generating profits, they want to privatise it.
They ignore TAP's contribution to our economy in the last three years alone, with more than €270 million in profits, more than €300 million in Social Security contributions, more than €300 million in IRS income tax, and around €2.2 billion in salaries in Portugal, which in turn feed the local and national economy.
In addition to being the largest national exporter of services, it accounts for 4% of national GDP. It plays a fundamental role in territorial cohesion, in connecting the autonomous regions with the mainland, in connecting Portuguese communities, in connecting the European continent with the American and African continents, and holds a strategic and sovereign dimension.
On the other hand, the Government's refusal to make TAP's assessment reports available is a very bad sign, besides being unacceptable. We have seen this before, with the sale of TAP at a bargain price. Once again, opacity prevails, while the Government makes promises of transparency and scrutiny. And once again, the opening of the privatisation process is already harming TAP by making TAP information available to other competing air transport companies. There is no reason to hide information from the Assembly of the Republic.
Let there be no illusions – throughout the privatisation process, these “investors” became richer by buying public companies, while the Country became poorer.
And privatisation processes have been the main source of destabilisation of TAP over the last 30 years.
I will end as I began – let us learn from our mistakes so as not to repeat them. Therefore, what is needed is for the Government to abandon the privatisation project and move forward with other objectives for the national airline, investing in its development and focusing on increasing TAP's contribution to the national economy, a contribution that is already very valuable and positive.
