<![CDATA[ Privatização da TAP arranca "nas próximas semanas" ]]>

Miranda Sarmento promised that the TAP assessment, which the government is already aware of, will be made public as soon as the sale begins, refusing to commit to dates for doing so. "When we announce the process, the schedule, the conditions for inclusion or exclusion, we will also make this assessment public," he said.

The privatization of TAP, with the sale of less than 50% of the company's capital, will begin “in the coming weeks”. The guarantee was given yesterday by the Minister of Finance. “We are trying to find an international partner that can help us develop the company, increase routes, the number of aircraft and investment in the company and, then, obviously, recover part of the money that taxpayers put into the company four years ago”, said Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, in an interview with Bloomberg.

The minister recalled that, in the last year, the Executive received “several potential candidates, large airlines, who are very interested” in the operation. Among those who have shown interest are Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and IAG, which owns British Airways and Iberia. The solution could also involve a “Lusitanian pact” between Portuguese shareholders. The idea has been defended by manager Carlos Tavares, former CEO of Stellantis, who does not want the State to hand over more than 20% to a competing group.

Miranda Sarmento promised that the TAP assessment, which the government is already aware of, will be made public as soon as the sale begins, refusing to commit to dates for doing so. “When we announce the process, the schedule, the conditions for inclusion or exclusion, we will also make this assessment public,” he also said.

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Azul wants to sue and the State considered it lost

In 2016, Brazilian airline Azul granted TAP a €90 million bond loan and Parpública, a state-owned company, injected €30 million. The former wants to take the company to court for failure to repay the loan and the latter considered the amount lost.

Governor decided soon

Regarding another of the dossiers he has in hand, the reappointment or not of Mário Centeno as governor of the Bank of Portugal, Miranda Sarmento was evasive: “It is something we are still evaluating and we will make a decision in the short term”.