António Costa spoke to journalists after presiding over the inauguration ceremony of new facilities and laboratories of the portuguese multinational company Hovione, in Loures, Lisbon, after being confronted with references from the Bloco de Esquerda to the fact that, allegedly, as Prime Minister, he had given special treatment to the businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, who would even have access to his office.
"I gave no special treatment, no favour, no disadvantage. We have to treat everyone equally," reacted the leader of the Portuguese executive, before responding to the accusation made by the coordinator of the Bloco de Esquerda, Catarina Martins.
"The Bloco de Esquerda must surely be unaware of the facts, but when Dr. Catarina Martins knows something about the government's actions, namely about my actions, she always has the opportunity to call me or visit me. I will be happy to provide you with any clarification," she replied.
As a fact to the contrary in relation to the content of this criticism made by the Bloco de Esquerda, António Costa then referred to the long process of unblocking BPI's statutes, which lasted until 2017 and involved the businesswoman daughter of the former President José Eduardo dos Santos.
"There was a conflict between the engineer Isabel dos Santos and other shareholders, and there was a system of statutory armouring which guaranteed that Isabel dos Santos would prevent the alteration of this statutory framework, namely in relation to a takeover bid which was to be launched by another shareholder. The government acted as it should, seeking first to contribute actively to overcome the conflicts", she said.
According to the portuguese Prime Minister, as this conflict was not overcome, "the government did what it had to do, changed the law, put an end to the unblocking, allowing the bank to find its way normally".
António Costa then rejected the prospect that the investigations surrounding Isabel dos Santos might create a new "irritant" in diplomatic relations between Portugal and Angola, saying that "on the contrary, there is a huge alignment of visiting points".
The portuguese Prime Minister also refused to comment on a meeting that will soon take place between the attorneys general of the Republic of Portugal and Angola.
"I have no information about that, nor do I have to. The Public Prosecutor in Portugal enjoys autonomy," he said.
