I never accepted, would immediately return TAP golden handshake, said state secretary

  • Lusa
  • 26 December 2022

Alexandra Reis said that the agreement to cease functions "as a director of the companies of the TAP universe" was agreed between the legal teams of both parties.

Alexandra Reis, the current secretary of state for Portugal’s treasury, said on Monday that she had never accepted, and would “immediately” return if she had been paid, any amount that she believed was not in “strict compliance with the law” when she left TAP.

In a written statement sent to Lusa, Alexandra Reis said that the agreement to cease functions “as a director of the companies of the TAP universe” and the revocation of her “employment contract with TAP S.A., both requested by TAP, as well as its public communication, was agreed between the legal teams of both parties, mandated to ensure the adoption of best practices and strict compliance with all legal precepts.”

“I have never accepted – and I would immediately return it if it had already been paid to me – any amount in relation to which I was not convinced of being anchored in strict compliance with the law,” she stressed, guaranteeing that “that principle also applies to the terms” of his “termination of duties at TAP.”

The ministers of finance and infrastructure and housing issued an order today asking the board of TAP for “information about the legal framework of the agreement” reached with the secretary of state, including about the compensation paid.

In a statement released earlier on Monday afternoon, Fernando Medina and Pedro Nuno Santos said said they “issued an order today requesting from the TAP board of directors, information on the legal framework of the agreement concluded in the context of the termination of duties as a member of the board of Alexandra Margarida Vieira Reis, including on the calculation of the amount of compensation awarded.

Correio da Manhã newspaper reported on Saturday that the new secretary of state for the treasury, Alexandra Reis, received compensation worth €500,000 for leaving early as executive director of the Portuguese airline, when she still had two years left to serve.

In the order, the supervisors said that “considering the cessation of duties of Alexandra Margarida Vieira Reis as a member of the TAP board, with effect from 28 February 2022” and that “considering the legal regimes applicable to the company, namely the Legal Regime of the Public Business Sector, approved by Decree-Law no. No. 133/2013, of October 3, and the Public Manager Statute, approved by Decree-Law No. 71/2007, of March 27, both in their current wording,” the two ministers decided to request from the TAP board of directors “information on the legal framework of the agreement concluded in the context of the termination of Alexandra Margarida Vieira Reis’ duties as a member of the respective executive board, including the amount of compensation awarded”.

Alexandra Reis, who took office as secretary of state for the treasury in the last government reshuffle, joined TAP in September 2017 and three years later was appointed a director of the airline.

The now-governor resigned in February and, in June, was appointed by the government to the presidency of the Portuguese air traffic service Navegação Aérea de Portugal (NAV).

This issue prompted criticism from several opposition parties.