Braga, Portugal, July 22, 2024 (Lusa) - The leader of the Liberal Initiative said on Monday that the state business sector ‘has to be managed effectively and has to be much smaller’, considering that it makes no sense to invest in companies that ‘don't bring service to the Portuguese’.

In Braga, reacting to the announcement of Inapa-Investimentos, Participações e Gestão, SA (Inapa IPG) 's insolvency, Rui Rocha added that ‘taxpayers’ money must be respected.

‘We believe that the state business sector has to be managed effectively and has to be much smaller because it doesn't make sense for us to be, year after year, investing money in these companies that bring no service to the Portuguese and then lose taxpayers‘ money,’ he said.

On Sunday, Inapa informed the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) that it would file for insolvency ‘in the next few days’.

The insolvency is justified by ‘a short-term cash shortage’ of €12 million, for which no ‘financing solution was found within the time limit established under German law’.

On Monday, the CMVM ordered the suspension of trading in the shares of Inapa, Portugal's leading paper and packaging distributor.

Inapa is 44% state-owned and employs 1478 workers.

The leader of IL said that his fundamental concern regarding Inapa is not whether a company is successful or loses money, as this ‘is a question that concerns its shareholders’.

‘We understand that profits are private and losses are private. The problem in a situation like Inapa's is the state money that has been invested there and the taxpayers‘ money that may not be being respected,’ he said.

VCP/ADB // ADB.

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