The Court of Auditors refused the approval of the PAEL process of the Municipality of Portimão, revealed today in a statement that has just been made public.
The Chamber says that it became aware "yesterday at the end of the afternoon", of the decision of the Court of Auditors of "refusal of approval for the process concerning the loan entered into with the Directorate-General of Treasury and Finance under the PAEL, as well as in the related processes a Loans for Financial Rebalancing, entered into between the autarchy and various banking institutions».
However, the Mayor Isilda Gomes, also according to the statement, «received immediately from the Government, namely from the Secretary of State for Local Administration, António Leitão Amaro, the guarantee of the firm commitment of the central administration of , given the visa refusal, to find an urgent solution for the municipality of Portimão».
In fact, in the various meetings that, throughout this process, the President of the Chamber held with the various members of the Government, namely with the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Deputy Minister and of Regional Development, «these have always shown openness and willingness to study and present an extraordinary solution to Portimão, should the Court of Auditors not be able to apply for the PAEL».
The local authority underlines, in its statement, that "the various requests for clarification by the Court of Auditors regarding this process soon made clear the need to work on an alternative plan that would guarantee that the interests of the Municipality's creditors would not be defrauded".
The problem was "the difficulties of legal framing the debt in factoring with the legal provisions of the PAEL, despite all the clarifications provided by the municipality", which made the approval of the plan unfeasible.
"Although this plan was inherited from the previous executive, and knowing in advance that it would not definitively resolve the serious financial problems that the municipality is facing, it was the most immediate solution within the current legislative framework, so it was the duty of the current executive will do everything to ensure its viability», adds the Chamber.
The autarchy says it wants to “take the opportunity to publicly recognize the sense of responsibility with which the Government has faced the serious financial situation of the Municipality of Portimão and the commitment shown to make a structured solution that responds to the specificities of the case of Portimão, which it holds the largest short-term debt of local authorities, which is mainly made up of factoring'.
In view of these facts and the "commitment shown so far by the Government", and although the content of the Court of Auditors' judgment and its grounds are not yet known, the Municipality of Portimão "will not appeal against this decision".
The municipality adds that "it continues to work, together with the Government and the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities, so that an alternative solution is quickly implemented, with the next week being decisive for this purpose."
It also highlights "the commitment of all creditors of the Municipality of Portimão, namely the Bank, who have always been on the side of a solution that would enable the functioning and vital functions of the municipality and at the same time ensure that their rights as creditors were satisfied" .
The communiqué goes on to stress that "the setback of the Court of Auditors' failure to obtain a visa for the PAEL candidacy does not call into question the firm intention of this City Council to honor its commitments to its creditors."
Finally, the Portimão autarchy ends by saying that "it wants to reassure its residents, employees and suppliers, reaffirming that the municipal government will continue, with transparency, to work in defense of the legitimate interests of the people of Portimão."
After PAEL approval of Faro quality Vila Real de Santo António, who received the visa on April 10th and yesterday, the 22nd, respectively, of Portimão was the only one in the Algarve and of the few in the country that needed to be approved.
One of the solutions for the Portimão Chamber may come from Municipal Support Fund, recently created by the Government, but whose regulation and entry into operation has been delayed.
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