Lisbon, Jan. 23, 2026 (Lusa) - The Petrogal Central Workers' Commission on Friday called on the Portuguese government to take a "clear and unequivocal" position on the proposed merger agreement between Galp and Spain's Moeve, in particular to ensure that no workers are affected.
Meanwhile, the Petrogal Central Workers' Commission, the company that owns Galp's refining business, will request a meeting with the prime minister to discuss mechanisms to ensure national interests in the potential deal announced between the two companies.
At issue is the non-binding agreement signed between Galp and Moeve's shareholders (formerly Cepsa) - Mubadala Investment Company, the sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates, and the US fund The Carlyle Group - to move forward with discussions on merging their respective downstream portfolios (refining, petrochemicals and fuel sales) in the Iberian Peninsula.
The plan under consideration provides for the creation of two new business platforms: one dedicated to fuel retail and transport (RetailCo), which will bring together the filling station networks and will be jointly controlled by Galp and Moeve, and an industrial platform (IndustrialCo), focused on refining, petrochemicals, trading and low-carbon fuels (such as biofuels and hydrogen).
Galp will have a minority stake of over 20% in this industrial platform, while the majority of the capital will remain in the hands of Moeve's shareholders. Among the assets potentially included is the Sines refinery, on the Alentejo region coast, considered strategic for Portugal's national energy supply.
Recalling the words of the minister of the economy and territorial cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, on Wednesday, when he indicated that it would be good for the Sines refinery to remain under Lisbon's control, Petrogal's Central Workers' Commission "takes note of this statement, but does not accept half-truths".
"To say that the refinery is essential while allowing Galp's holding to be reduced to a minority stake in our company [...] is a clear contradiction. This is not how energy sovereignty, decision-making capacity or control over strategic investments are guaranteed," added the commission.
The workers' representative body stressed that the Sines refinery does not exist in isolation and that it operates thanks to a structure of highly skilled workers, but that their protection is not automatic.
"The government must take a clear and unequivocal position: there can be no redundancies. And it must use all the tools at its disposal to impose conditions that ensure job stability and the defence of the country's strategic assets, which are fundamental to energy sovereignty and the national interest," it added.
In the workers' commission view, it was wrong and harmful political choices made in the past that have led to an alleged lack of mechanisms to intervene in private business deals today.
In this regard, they recalled the elimination of "one of the most important instruments for safeguarding the national interest in Galp", referring to the special rights of state owned Caixa Geral de Depósitos bank in the shareholders' agreement.
During the morning, the minister for the environment and energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, assured that the Government is well coordinated and acknowledged that it would be a better solution if Portugal retained control of the Sines refinery, but pointed out that there are rules in the market.
"From the point of view of energy independence, it is a better solution, let's look at the mechanisms that exist," she reiterated, regarding the possibility of Portugal controlling the refinery.
The state holds 8.2% of Galp's capital through the state holdings company, Parpública.
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