Lisbon, Dec. 10, 2025 (Lisboa) - The Portuguese Court of Auditors emphasised on Wednesday in parliament that the situation of the industrial group Efacec, nationalised in 2020 and privatised in 2023, was already fragile when Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos joined the group in 2015 with the support of the banks.

Accompanying the president of the Court of Auditors (TdC), Filipa Calvão, at a hearing today at the Committee on Economy and Territorial Cohesion, Judge José Manuel Quelhas said that when auditing the State's decision to nationalise Efacec, the institution had to go back to 2015 to look at all the operations prior to nationalisation and thus understand the difficulties the company was facing.

"If we only look at what happened in 2020 [the year of nationalisation], we cannot understand the Efacec situation," he stressed, saying that to tell the story of nationalisation, it was necessary to "go back to at least 2015", the year Isabel dos Santos took control of the industrial group based in Matosinhos, in the northern Porto district.

"We must, at the very least, ask why there was an attempt by Isabel dos Santos' group to enter Efacec, and how this financing was done," he said, explaining that, in making this retrospective assessment, the Court of Auditors found that "the whole situation at Efacec was [at that time] obviously already fragile".

The judge recalled that "the banks were systematically refusing to provide financing" to the industrial group and that "when Isabel dos Santos joined, she did so with very solid bank financing from the national banking system, through the pledging of shares".

This, he said, immediately posed a "systemic risk", as the financing was supported by the pledging of shares.

The entry of the businesswoman, daughter of the then Angolan president, into Efacec took place through the company Winterfell 2 Limited, controlled from Malta, and was supported, in terms of Portuguese banking, by financing from BPI, Montepio, CGD, BCP and Novo Banco.

In parliament, the judge recalled that the company's situation later deteriorated with the Luanda Leaks revelations and the pandemic. "Efacec's situation reached the point we all know, and then a nationalisation measure was taken," he said.

In July 2020, the State took over the 71.73% stake then held by the Angolan businesswoman, with the remaining 28.27% continuing to be controlled by MGI Capital (part of the José de Mello and Têxtil Manuel Gonçalves group). This was followed in June 2023 by the sale to Mutares.

The judge emphasised that the court did not make a political judgement on nationalisation, but merely verified whether the objectives stated by the government when making that decision had been achieved, concluding that they had not.

In parliament, the president of the Court of Auditors, Filipa Calvão, stressed that it was up to the then government to make a decision "based on a well-founded, independent technical study", not only to ensure the principle of transparency, but also to justify the rationality of the decision itself.

According to the audit, the nationalisation was carried out without justification and the reprivatisation "culminated in public funding of €484 million, with the risk of rising to €564 million" in view of contingent liabilities.

The impact on the public purse was criticised by the Social Democrat (PSD), Christian Democrat-Monarchist (CDS-PP), Right wing Chega and Liberal (IL) benches, with MPs accusing the Socialist Party (PS) of harming taxpayers' interests.

PS MP Ricardo Carlos criticised the terms of the nationalisation and CDS-PP MP Paulo Núncio said that the rationale behind the purchase "remains a mystery".

In defence of the executive that took the decisions on nationalisation and privatisation, PS MP Carlos Pereira argued that it would be advantageous to have an audit in "five or six years" to assess the company's progress.

"They will probably have to bite their tongues one of these days," he said.

In response to the MP's statement, Paulo Núncio retorted that "it is the taxpayers who are already biting their tongues".

IL MP Miguel Rangel also said that the nationalisation was poorly planned and that the privatisation was a "practically symbolic sale".

PCT/AYLS // AYLS

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