TAP

The still executive president of TAP, Christine Ourmières-Widener, will be heard this Tuesday by the commission of inquiry, after having contested the exoneration announced by the Government, following the compensation given to former director Alexandra Reis.

The manager is the third personality, from a list of around 60, to be heard by the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the political supervision of TAP’s management, set up on the initiative of the Left Block.

The still executive president of TAP contested the dismissal and accused the Government of having been in a “political hurry” to dismiss her, according to the defense’s objection, cited by TVI/CNN.

Last week, the heads of the Inspectorate General of Finance (IGF) were heard, who stated that the executive chairman and the chairman of the Board of Directors, Manuel Beja, are responsible in the case of compensation to Alexandra Reis for having signed the only document official.

The airline’s financial administrator, Gonçalo Pires, has also been heard, who assured that he had no involvement in the compensation process, despite protecting the company’s accounts.

At the same hearing, Left Bloc deputy Mariana Mortágua revealed that former manager Max Urbahn, executive director between 2016 and 2017, when TAP was privately owned, received 1.35 million euros in a pre-retirement agreement.

The Government announced, on March 6, that the IGF had concluded that the agreement concluded for the early departure of Alexandra Reis from TAP was null and that it was going to ask for the refund of the amounts.

The Ministers of Finance and Infrastructure also announced the dismissal with just cause of the Executive Chairman of TAP, Christine Ourmières-Widener, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Manuel Beja.

Verification by the IGF of the legality of the compensation paid to Alexandra Reis was determined on December 27 last year by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, and by the then Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos.

In December, Alexandra Reis took office as Secretary of State for the Treasury, and then the controversy erupted over the compensation she received when she left the state-owned airline, leading to a reshuffle in the Government, including the departure of Pedro Nuno Santos, who was replaced by João Galamba.

Between leaving TAP and joining the Government, Alexandra Reis was also president of NAV Portugal – Navegação Aérea.

In a written statement sent to Lusa in December, Alexandra Reis said that the termination agreement “as administrator of companies in the TAP universe” and the revocation of her “employment contract with TAP SA, both requested by TAP, as well as its public communication, was agreed between the legal teams of both parties, mandated to ensure the adoption of best practices and strict compliance with all legal precepts”.