The parliamentary group PAN – People, Animals and Nature is full of “doubts” about the third phase of the Efacec revitalization, which aims to allow the final candidates, the Portuguese DST and Sing (associated with the Sodecia group), the possibility of improving their proposals.
“This third stage of the Efacec revitalization process, given the impact on the balance of public accounts and the damage that may accompany it in the future, raises a number of doubts in the Parliamentary Group of the PAN, which can be comprehensively clarified. It is required by the Ministry of Finance, as responsible for the Guardianship of Parpública – Participações Públicas (SGPS), SA”, in which 71.73% of the capital that was in the hands of Isabel dos Santos remained, says the PAN parliamentary group in the Quartet of questions to the Minister of Finance.
Using data from an audit of competitors to buy the company, PAN begins by recalling that in addition to net financial debt of around €170 million, in 2020, Efacec had adjusted earnings of €60 million. Operating result in the region of minus 25 million euros for 2021.
“This data is worrying not only because it reveals figures three times higher than those reported by Efacec in last year’s report and accounts (which reported a negative EBTIDA of €20 million), but also because it means that, in addition to the €70 million that was awarded Already in the form of a general guarantee, the reactivation of Efacec will require the buyer to pay at least 80 million euros”, warns PAN.
Hence, it is seen that “in the name of transparency and rigor in the management of public funds, the government should clarify the future costs of reactivating Efacec and the disparity in these figures”.
In the same way, he adds, “urgent clarification must be ensured as to why the Government, after nationalizing and bringing to the public these disturbing data, chose to retain the management team that led to these negative outcomes, as well as to the costs that might be incurred in the reallocation within the state budget.” for the year 2022.”
PAN also notes that José Teixeira, President of DST, one of the two candidates that has passed to the third stage of the reactivation of Efacec, “is under investigation by the Public Prosecution Office over allegations of passive and active corruption and economic offences. Participation in work related to the award of public works contracts by the company between 2011 and 2017.
A situation which, according to PAN, “leads to the belief that the government has not only failed to ensure that standards of transparency, ethics and buyer suitability are respected in the privatization of Efacec, but also does not prevent the reputational damage that may arise from the eventual sale of Efacec to a company for which it is principally responsible. Under suspicion of serious crimes – which happens means repeating the mistakes we saw in the sale of the insurance company GNB Vida,” notes.
For the party led by Inês de Sousa Real, “This position is particularly unacceptable if we take into account the impact on the budget that may be associated with the revitalization of Efacec, but also the history linking the company to Isabel dos Santos and which is at the origin of the nationalization.”
Thus, in light of the foregoing, the PAN Parliamentary Group poses four questions to Minister Joao Liao.
1 – “Which justifies the large discrepancy between the EBITDA values provided by Efacec in last year’s report and the accounts (20 million negative euros) and the values presented in the audit carried out by competitors to revitalize the company (60) million negative euros. Did the government expect this discrepancy?
2 – “What actions will the government take regarding this disparity? Given this disparity, will the government take steps to encourage change in the Efacec management team?”
3 – “In light of these data, what are the total costs that the nationalization and revitalization of Efacec could incur for the public portfolio and how many years does the government expect it to be able to hold? for the state for 2022 and what are the relevant costs of value?”
4 – “Given that the Chairman of the Board of Directors of DST is under investigation for the alleged practice of offenses of passive and active corruption and economic participation in business, will the government exclude DST from the reactivation of Efacec?”
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