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- Portugal’s Social Security system has discovered an extra €680 million in unpaid contributions, more than the €600 million expected in the budget. The total amount owed to Social Security is more than €2.9 billion.
- The International Monetary Fund last week approved the 7th evaluation of the Portuguese bailout compliance, freeing up the latest disbursement of €658 million. The Fund so far has put €22.6 billion into Portugal as part of the bailout package.
- The government last week set the date for the next municipal elections for September 29, choosing a date that was considered “neutral” as it wasn’t the favored day of any political party. The main opposition Socialists and the Left Bloc wanted October 13, while the leading Social Democrats and CDS wanted September 22.
- The Accounting Tribunal last week said irregularities in the Madeira Island budgets for 2010 and 2011 totaled €3.85 billion, forcing the autonomous region into a Lisbon-financed rescue package. The irregularities mainly had to do with overindebtedness and budget overruns.
- Portuguese emigration to countries outside the European Union more than trebled in 2011, according to data released last week by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Australia, Canada and the US were the main destinations for the 15,500 emigrants outside the EU.
- The number of people employed in Portugal fell by 2.2% in the first quarter, the biggest drop in the Euro Zone after Greece, which saw a 2.3% decline in employment. On average the Euro Zone saw a 0.5% decline in employment in the three-month period. The IEFP employment agency meanwhile said the number of registered unemployed rose 9.7% in May from May 2012, with an additional 61,893 people on the rolls. Even so, some 14,400 jobs on offer via the IEFP went unfilled.
- The government last week approved 11 new investments that will involve €280 million and create 700 jobs. Trade and Foreign Affairs Minister Paulo Portas said 7 of the 11 projects were foreign investment and included sectors like aerospace, industrial manufacture, mining and textiles.
- The state has brought its latest accusations in the long-running “Operation Hurricane” investigation into VAT evasion, citing six companies and 24 individuals that allegedly bilked the government out of €37 million in VAT. There have already been some 77 cases resulting from the investigation, which began in 2006.
- Carlos Costal, who was fined €1,300 or 200 days in jail for insulting the President of the Republic at the June 10 Portugal Day celebrations in Elvas, was allowed to walk free with no punishment. Last week the Attorney General dropped the charges, citing technical legal questions.
- Natural gas prices will rise 3.9% in July, energy sector regulator ERSE said last week. Electricity prices will remain unchanged.
- Portugal will go to the markets this week to raise up to €1.5 billion through the sale of six-month and 18-month treasury bills.
- The Food Safety Authority is investigating the possibility of fraud related to the sale of frozen prepared meals, in which a cheap “snail fish” meat was used instead of traditional codfish. The ASAE said public safety was not at issue.
- TAP Air Portugal had a bumper month of May, with a 9.6% rise in passenger traffic to a total 845,000. For the year to date TAP has handled 3.8 million passengers, up 4.2% from the same period in 2012.
- The Hoti hotel group, which manages the Melia and Tryp brands in Portugal, is planning to invest €100 million in Portugal and will also open 2 hotels in Mozambique. CEO Manuel Proença told the Jornal de Negócios newspaper the Tryp airport hotel in Lisbon will cost €26 million, while the planned five star hotel Melia for Porto will cost around €30 million.
- Sonae Investimentos, the capital management unit of the Sonae Group, last week raised €50 million through the sale of a five-year bond. The bond was a private placement and details of the issue weren’t provided.
- Builder Mota-Engil has won a handful of contract worth €500 million in total, all of them in Africa. The company said it will enter two new markets as a result – Zambia and Ghana – as well as work on construction projects in Malawi, Angola and Mozambique.
- The European Commission last week approved French company Vinci’s acquisition of Portuguese airport operator ANA, saying the transaction didn’t violate European competition rules.
- Portugal’s construction sector had the worst quarter since 2001 in the first quarter, with just 4,300 buildings licenced and 5,400 completed. That was a 20% drop for licencing and a 13% drop in completions, according to the National Statistics Institute.
- Caixa Geral Depositos’ new board was finally approved last week, after trade promotion authority president Pedro Reis withdrew his name from the list. Reis said he had declined the invitation for personal reasons, though media reported some of the other banks in the financial system had been uncomfortable with the idea of Reis working for a bank that competes in the market for trade finance. José Matos will continue as CGD’s CEO, while Norberto Rosa and Rodolfo Lavrador are among those leaving the board.
- Deposits in Portugal rose by €276 million in April from March, to a total €131.2 billion, according to data published last week by the Bank of Portugal. But non performing loans also increased to 7% of the total loan book, or €16.6 billion.
- Zeinal Bava, CEO of Portugal Telecom, was named the 5th best CEO in Europe in a Thomson Reuters survey published last week. PT’s CFO, Luis Pacheco de Melo, was 10th on the list of best CFOs.
- Portugal has been left off the guest list for the first phase launch of the new Xbox One gaming console from Microsoft, slated for November. Some 21 countries will simultaneously launch the new console, and so far there is no date set for when Portugal will start to sell it.
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Teacher Strike To Proceed Despite Test Disruption Fears
The Education Ministry, the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister all intervened to try and stop public school teachers from going on strike for a day this week, but despite marathon negotiating sessions the two sides were unable to reach an agreement. The crux of the matter is that the teachers scheduled their strike for Monday, June 17th, the date of nationwide standardized tests for thousands of students. The union suggested the government switch the date of the tests, but the Education Ministry refused, saying there was no guarantee the teachers wouldn't set another strike for the new date. Nuno Crato, the Education Minister, said he would not play cat-and-mouse with the unions over tests, and said the government had done everything it could to guarantee the tests would go forward as scheduled. The government last week lost a court case to ensure minimum services to ensure there was a sufficient number of monitors on hand to manage the test-taking, but that was rejected by the judge. Teachers marched in Lisbon on Saturday to protest the government's austerity measures and to defend their strike action, which has upset many parents and students who will be affected by the test disruption. Even President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who tends to maintain a neutral position on social issues, said it was unfair to use children as a "weapon" in this kind of dispute.
State, JP Morgan Normalize Relations After Swap Squabble; Bank Wins CTT Role
The Finance Ministry last week chose international investment bank JP Morgan as its financial advisor for the upcoming privatization of CTT, the national postal service. That followed a deal between JP Morgan and the government to rip up the "swap" contracts between the bank and some state-run companies that had penalized those companies balances sheets and threatened to cause big financial losses. The Finance Ministry last week confirmed that relations with JP Morgan had been "normalized" following the deal, but didn't provide specifics. Meanwhile, the government continues talks with Santander Totta, the bank which the debt management offices says is responsible for contracts that represent 40% of the total potential losses from the high-risk swap contracts. The IGCP report, released last week, says that Santander's contracts represent potential losses of €1.4 billion, out of a total pool of potential losses of €3.3 billion. The IGCP report showed that Santander had some 25 total contracts with state companies, including two with the Porto Metro, 10 with the Lisbon Metro and 2 with bus company Carris.
Investment: New agency on the way
The new institution is due to provide a new model for EU funding. — 
The G8 agenda - The transparency summit
Britain's leader envisages a world of tax compliance and clear corporate ownership. The obstacles have become a bit less daunting. — 
Lx Factory: Lisbon's "creative island"
What was once a grand manufacturing complex in Alcântara, is now a creative and dynamic space for everything from art, fashion and fine arts to architecture, music and food. — |
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Roteiro de Simetrias, Unipessoal Lda.
Estrada Nacional 125, Edifício Palmeira, Bloco A, Loja A
8700-234 Olhão
T. +351 289 702 204
M. +351 917 825 624
ronaldo-silva@roteiro-de-simetrias.pt
www.r2sconstrucoes.pt
Main Activity: Building/Development
Main Contact: Ronaldo Silva |
CCI Legal Services Sucursal Portugal Lda
Rua Almeida Garrett, Nº 22 A
8000-260 FARO
T. 289 090 539
F. 289 094 079
fatima.costa@ccilegal.com.pt
www.ccilegal.com
Main Activity: Debt Collection
Main Contact: Maria Fatima Cardoso Costa | |
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If you wish to
attend one of the events listed below, please contact:
Mª Helena Fernandes, BPCC, Lisbon.
Phone: +35 1 213 942 020, email: h.fernandes@bpcc.pt
This Diary of Events has now been expanded to include
a selection of initiatives organised by the Commercial
Section of the British Embassy* in Lisbon |
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18 Junho (Porto) – Business Training / Curso Intensivo de “Gestão de Tesouraria” através do INEDEM, com certificação DGERT.
18 Junho (Porto) – Seminário sobre “As Práticas De Compliance - O Manual de Boas Práticas Anti-Corrupção “ com a PLMJ na ANJE.
25 June (Lisbon) – Almoço-Debate com Dr. José Silva Peneda sobre o tema “Algumas inquietudes do nosso tempo”.
27 June (Algarve) – Cocktail Summer Party sponsored by BPCC members, Verónica Pisco-Lawyer, Sugar & Sweet, Golden Tree Real Estate and Doces Pecados in Vale do Lobo.
2 Jul (Lisboa) - Hands-on Seminar TIME TALKS “Gestão de Tempo e Produtividade Pessoal” Barclays - Palácio Sotto Mayor.
9 Jul (Porto) – Hands-on Seminar TIME TALKS “Gestão de Tempo e Produtividade Pessoal” no Hotel Infante de Sagres.
10 July (Algarve) – Lunch-Debate with Minister for Economy, Mr. Álvaro Santos Pereira, at the Conrad Algarve.
11 Julho (Porto) - Visita guiada à Quinta de Santa Cruz, na Maia.
16-19 Julho (Londres) – Missão têxtil na London Textile Fair.
19 September (Lisbon) – Tour and lunch aboard MSC OPERA cruise ship for all Chamber members. Sponsored by MSC Cruzeiros S.A. Spaces are limited and on a first come first serve basis.
Power Network lunches are organised on a regular basis (by invitation only) throughout the country. Should you wish to receive an invitation to attend the next one in your area, contact us on info@bpcc.pt |
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| Interested in
sponsoring these or any future
Chamber events? - then contact us on h.fernandes@bpcc.pt |
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With respect to
information in the publication, neither the British-Portuguese
Chamber of Commerce nor any of our employees, makes
any guarantee, express or implied, or assumes any legal
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or usefulness of any information. While the BPCC believes
the information to be reliable, human or mechanical
error remains a possibility. Neither the BPCC nor any
of the sources of the information shall be responsible
for any errors or omissions, or for the use or results
obtained from the use of this information.
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