Among the three largest shareholders of Inapa, Parpública, with 44.89%, Nova Expressão, with 10%, and Novo Banco, which holds 6.55%, the company that manages the State’s holdings was the only one not to give the green light to a short-term financing of 12 million euros.
If it had been approved, this loan would settle “a short-term cash shortage” worth 12 million euros, a debt whose payment deadline ends this Monday.
However, following Parpública’s reservations, the board of directors of Inapa, led by Frederico Lupi – who has since resigned, as has his entire board of directors – wrote a letter to the Secretary of State for the Treasury and Finance, João Silva Lopes, to which Negócios had access, in which they also appealed to the Executive to provide this financing. However, the response was negative.
Contacted by Negócios, an official source from the Ministry of Finance began by explaining that “it became aware of the critical situation in which Inapa found itself, following the decision by the Securities Market Commission (CMVM) to suspend the company’s shares, on 11 July”.
After this news, the Executive summoned Parpública, where it learned that Inapa “had requested an immediate injection of 12 million euros, to meet the treasury needs of its subsidiary in Germany, while another request for 15 million euros to restructure the company was already being analyzed”.
In view of this situation, the Government asked Parpública, the Directorate-General for Treasury and Finance (DGTF) and the Technical Unit for Monitoring and Monitoring of the Public Business Sector (UTAM) to comment on this operation, with the three entities concluding that the proposal did not meet solid conditions, nor did it demonstrate the economic and financial viability that would guarantee compensation from the State”. The opinions were negative.
In addition to these negative opinions, the executive’s decision took into account the fact that Inapa’s request was not accompanied by any recovery plan. Thus, “considering the negative opinions on this financing, that Inapa did not present any recovery strategy, that Parpública owns 45% of Inapa but is not the majority shareholder, that Inapa is a private company, not having an activity considered strategic for the Portuguese economy; the Ministry of Finance confirmed Parpública’s opinion not to proceed with the financing operations requested by Inapa”. From now on, the Ministry of Finance says that it will “monitor the insolvency process”.
In addition to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy has also reacted to this case, through its minister Pedro Reis. The minister stressed that “Whenever decisions are made regarding corporate restructuring and support for companies, it is very important to protect taxpayers’ money.” “It is often easier to call for public support, but it is also often necessary, in the public interest, to carefully assess where this public support is. And I will say no more,” added Pedro Reis.
Source: www.jornaldenegocios.pt
