The Court of Accounts carried out an analysis of the management of the SATA group, considering the Government of the Azores to have “saved” the company from the “disgrace” caused by previous socialist managers.
The Azorean government (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) considered that the now-revealed audit of the Court of Auditors (TdC) of the SATA group confirms that the former PS regional executives “disgraced” the Azorean airline.
“The ToC finally confirms this perception that we all already had. The socialist regional governments have dishonored the SATA and the coalition government is saving the SATA”, said the secretary of Finance, Planning and Public Administration, Duarte Freitas, in statements to journalists on the sidelines of the meeting of the Consultative Council of the Public Administration , which took place in Ponta Delgada.
An audit by the Court of Auditors of the SATA group, released this Wednesday, identifies the airline Azores Airlines as responsible “for about 90% of the accumulated losses between 2013 and 2019”, worth 260 million euros.
Duarte Freitas refused to “pronounce in detail”, since he has not yet analyzed the document with the “necessary detail”, but considered that the audit “reveals very serious management and policies of the previous government in relation” to SATA.
“The ToC came to say, confirming what we have been saying, that the coalition government is saving SATA from the disaster to which the socialist governments led it”, he reinforced.
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In the document, the ToC “identifies that the main cause of the significant worsening of the economic and financial imbalance of the SATA group was the negative performance of the subsidiary SATA Internacional – Azores Airlines, SA [responsável pelas ligações de e para fora do arquipélago dos Açores]responsible for about 90% of accumulated losses in the reference period.
Between 2013 and 2019, the SATA group “accumulated losses of the order of 260 million eurosof which 233.4 million euros (90%) were generated by Sata Internacional – Azores Airlines”, summarizes the audit.
The analysis of the regional public group, which also includes the airline SATA Air Açores (responsible for inter-island connections) was carried out following a request from the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores and indicates that, between 2013 and 2019, the liability “went from 199 to 465 million euros and equity suffered a strong erosion, reaching a negative value of 230 million euros at the end of 2019”.
The ToC considers that, for the results of Azores Airlines, “the management options related to the renewal process of the long-haul fleet and its subsequent reversal, as well as the exploration of routes subject to public service obligations without the corresponding economic compensation ” .
In June, the European Commission approved a Portuguese state aid to support the restructuring of the airline of 453.25 million euros in state loans and guarantees, envisioning “medicines” as a reorganization of the business structure, namely the divestment of a controlling stake (51%) in Azores Airlines.
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In March, the Azores government opened a tender for the privatization of Azores Airlines, from the SATA group, and interested parties have 90 days to submit proposals, in a process that should conclude in September or October.
The terms of reference for the privatization of Azores Airlines provide for a sale of a “minimum” of 51% and a “maximum” of 85% of the company’s share capital.
Source: Observadora
