"It is a job that has been done between Angolan justice and Portuguese justice," said the head of state, on the sidelines of the inauguration of the new Geological Institute of Angola, in Luanda.
Asked if the Angolan State will come to the defense of Isabel dos Santos if its interests abroad are at stake, João Lourenço underlined that "States always defend justice, regardless of the faces that are at stake".
The Portuguese Council of Ministers approved, on Thursday, the nationalization of 71.73 percent of Efacec's share capital, belonging to the businesswoman, daughter of former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who is being investigated by the Angolan justice and saw their shareholdings and bank accounts are subject to judicial foreclosures in both countries.
"State intervention seeks to enable the continuity of the company, guaranteeing the stability of its financial and operational value and allowing the safeguarding of approximately 2500 jobs", justified the Minister of the Portuguese Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, at the press conference of the Council of Ministers.
Also the Portuguese ambassador to Angola, Pedro Pessoa and Costa, said that he is following the matter with the Angolan authorities.
The nationalization results from the departure of Isabel do Santos from the capital of Efacec, following the involvement of her name in the 'Luanda Leaks' case, in which the International Investigative Journalism Consortium revealed, on January 19th, more than 715 thousand files which detail alleged financial schemes of the businesswoman and her husband that will have allowed them to withdraw money from the Angolan public purse through tax havens.
