Government injects €536M into TAP via capital increase
The government has injected €536 million into TAP S.A. through a capital increase, adding that over 2022, "new capital injections" may be made.
The Portuguese government has injected €536 million into TAP S.A. through a capital increase, adding that over 2022, “new capital injections” may be made in the company, according to a statement from the finance ministry.
In addition, “the €1.2 billion of loans to TAP in 2020 related to the 2020 emergency spending” were “converted into capital,” the government said.
The finance ministry also said that “throughout 2022, depending on the overall evolution of the sector and the company’s performance, namely the indicators provided for in the restructuring plan, new capital injections may be made, respecting the maximum limit authorised by the European Commission and under the Restructuring Plan for 2022.”
On Wednesday, finance minister João Leão said that an injection of €536 million was planned for 2021 to be carried out later in the week.
“For next year, what is planned is €990 million, [which] concludes the injection of funds up to that maximum amount authorised by the European Commission,” the minister said at the end of the cabinet meeting.
Leão also reiterated that the maximum amount that the state can authorise next year for injection into TAP is €990 million. These “will be carried out depending on the sector and the company’s results next year.
The minister for infrastructure and housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, made it clear on December 21 that aid to TAP will reach a limit of €3.2 billion due to amounts already paid and others that are yet to be approved.
The minister said that intervention in TAP “is carried out in two ways: one as part of the restructuring and the other as part of Covid compensation.
The restructuring includes the €2.55 billion announced by the European Commission, which provides for “€1.2 billion that has already been injected into TAP.”
