In the second round of the debate on general policy with the
prime minister in parliament, deputy Carlos Guimarães Pinto asked António Costa
if he can confirm that the privatisation of TAP “is a possibility on the table
for the next twelve months”.
"I hope so, that's what is planned, I hope so,"
replied the prime minister.
Guimarães Pinto underlined that, when the German State sold
the German airline Lufthansa, it received “more than 770 million euros of what
it had put in”, then asked Costa if he “considers the possibility of receiving,
through the privatisation of TAP, an amount below what the taxpayers injected”.
“Of all your question, there is only one really relevant
part which is, thanks to the fact that Lufthansa has returned to the State what
it had received, it is now free, before the European Commission, to proceed
with the acquisition of other airlines”, retorted Costa.
Insisting on the question he had previously asked, the
deputy from the Liberal Initiative asked Costa again if “the State will lose
money with the privatisation of TAP”.
“I hope not”, replied Costa, with Guimarães Pinto asking the
prime minister if, based on his answer, it could be inferred that “he hopes to
privatise TAP for at least 3.2 billion euros”.