Lisbon, March 27, 2026 (Lusa) — The prime minister on Thursday denied any intention of withholding information from the Transparency Entity and disclosed the list of 13 clients of his former company, Spinumviva, which he said was known due to an "information leak from parliament".
Luís Montenegro claimed to have received "38 notifications from the Transparency Entity in recent days which, in short, are intended to request the repetition of information provided in April 2025."
The head of the PSD/CDS-PP (Right-wing coalition) government said that, in his case, the information now accessible on the Transparency Entity platform has been made public (through a parliamentary information leak) and brings nothing new. Therefore, he does not intend to hide anything, but to clarify a legal issue that should occur within the full democratic and institutional normality.
He decided to publish the known client list before it is available on the Transparency Entity platform, so as not to remain "dependent on exaggerated bureaucracies and the incomprehensible operational difficulties of the digital platform."
He listed the following clients of Spinumviva: Radio Popular, SA; Lopes Barata, Consultoria e Gestão, Lda; CLIP - Colégio Luso Internacional do Porto, SA; Ferpinta - Indústrias de Tubo de Aço de Fernando Pinho Teixeira, S.A; Solverde, Sociedade de Investimentos Turísticos da Costa Verde, S.A; Cofina S.A; Grupo Joaquim de Barros Rodrigues & Filhos Lda, Rodáreas - Áreas de Serviço, Lda; ITAU SA; Sogenave SA; Portugalenses Transportes SA; Beetsteel; INETUM PORTUGAL SA and Grupel SA.
This clarification arises "following news published in recent days and to avoid further misinformation," starting by stating that the prime minister submitted the list of clients for the company he founded and for which he worked to the Transparency Entity "on 29 April 2025, as requested."
"Following this, he requested that the content of this information not be made public for alleged legal reasons. The Transparency Entity disagreed with the prime minister's interpretation, which prompted an appeal to the constitutional court," he said.
Nine months later, the constitutional court concluded that the appeal was submitted out of time.
"There is, therefore, no substantive decision on the best interpretation of the law," Montenegro said. The statement further said that he sought a legal opinion from the State Legal Centre (CEJURE) to respond to the Constitutional Court, considering such a procedure "appropriate and legitimate."
He said that this recourse to CEJURE "was not intended for the treatment of a specific case or a specific person, but for the legal, general, and abstract interpretation of the terms of the law's application to any and all recipients (holders of political office)."
The Transparency Entity reported on Wednesday that it had begun steps to include all requested details in the prime minister's declaration, though it said that this publication would depend on Luís Montenegro’s cooperation.
The prime minister said on 28 February 2025, one day after the weekly Expresso reported that Solverde paid a monthly fee of €4,500 to Spinumviva, that his family business had CLIP, Ferpinta, Lopes Barata, and Rádio Popular as data protection service clients, in addition to Solverde.
Expresso reported on 30 April, prior to a televised debate with then PS (Socialist Party) leader Pedro Nuno Santos for the legislative elections, that the prime minister had updated his declaration of interests. This update added two companies from the Joaquim Barros Rodrigues e Filhos Group (a Braga-based fuel company), as well as Beetsteel, INETUM, ITAU, Portugalenses Transportes, Grupel, and Sogenave, to the client list.
This update to the declaration was made "under reserve" and was accompanied by an administrative complaint against the Transparency Entity's decision to require the disclosure of all services provided by Spinumviva.
The Transparency Entity rejected the complaint on 28 May 2025 and maintained all previous requirements. Montenegro filed an appeal with the constitutional court on 2 June 2025 following this decision.
The constitutional court decided on 19 February not to hear this appeal, finding that Luís Montenegro had filed it out of time. He filed a claim for the nullity of the ruling because he disagreed with the decision, but the Constitutional Court plenary rejected the request, ending this process.
Montenegro said on 17 March that he would apply the same procedure to other officeholders in identical situations whose cases were awaiting the constitutional court's decision.
SMA/RYOL // ADB.
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