Lisbon, Sept. 19, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's infrastructures minister, Miguel Pinto Luz, insisted in parliament on Friday that the partial privatisation of TAP is necessary to protect the company's future and considered it “essential” to have a "major international partner", whether European or non-European.
Miguel Pinto Luz was speaking during the debate on three requests from the PCP, Livre and BE for parliamentary consideration of the government's 14 August decree approving the first phase of the reprivatisation of TAP S.A., which provides for the sale of up to 49.9% of the Portuguese aviation group.
In response to criticism from the PCP and Livre that the state is giving up a strategic asset, the minister said that the government wants "a TAP at the service of the Portuguese, both those living in Portugal and in our diaspora".
From the government's perspective, "to have a strong TAP, a robust TAP, the highest value [offered in the privatisation] is not enough, a great partner is essential".
According to the minister, "this principle is clearly reflected" when it was defined that the sale is aimed exclusively at airline operators or groupings led by airline operators.
"It's no secret that TAP is favoured by the largest European airlines," he acknowledged, pointing out that the design of the operation extends the offers to companies from "outside Europe", increasing "competition in the sale process and consequently the value" of the company.
"We want a more robust TAP, we want a more competitive TAP. And we want the taxpayers who invested more than €3.2 billion in it, through their taxes, to see that investment not only rewarded, but returned as far as possible."
Pinto Luz also said that "public service obligations will remain unchanged".
When presenting the draft resolutions calling for the government's decree to be rescinded, Livre MP Jorge Pinto argued that the best option would be to keep the company public, in "a country with two archipelagos, a country with millions of Portuguese in the diaspora, a country with historical links to other Portuguese-speaking countries, links that also translate into routes that TAP itself has".
Livre MP Jorge Pinto said that "Portugal has unique conditions when it comes to the fuels of the future for air transport" and that "a state, public vision that combines this energy transition in terms of fuels with the transition in terms of aeronautical design would make Portugal a world example in the air sector," giving TAP a central role.
The company, he said, "recovers with its profits, it recovers with the taxes paid here, unlike other companies so defended and cherished by many, which create wealth here with the efforts of their workers, but go to pay taxes in Holland and other countries".
'It's recovered with the contribution to Portuguese social security, it's recovered with the contribution made to the economy with the products bought in Portugal, it's recovered with the jobs and salaries paid here,' Paulo Raimundo insisted, saying that the company 'contributes around 4% to GDP and is the biggest national exporter of services and that's why, because it's worth so much, the sharks are rushing to get their hands on it.
The sale process acknowledges the direct sale of up to 44.9% of the group, "possibly accompanied by one or more operations to alter the capital structure, should these operations be determined by the Council of Ministers", according to the government decree-law.
At the same time, the sale of up to 5% of the capital to TAP's employees is foreseen, with the State being able to hold no less than 50.1% of the capital.
PCT/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
