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☆ Portuguese Judge Orders Release of Those Detained in Corruption Probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

LISBON (Reuters) - A Lisbon judge ordered on Monday that all five people detained last week for alleged corruption and influence-peddling, including the outgoing Portuguese prime minister's former chief of staff, be released from custody, the court said. They remain suspects in the investigation into alleged illegalities in the government's handling of lithium and hydrogen projects, as well as a large-scale data centre. The probe has led to the resignation of Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who is the target of a related investigation, and a snap election being called for March 10. Lacerda Machado was released on a 150,000-euro ($160,305) bail, while no bail was demanded for Escaria, who will be barred from travelling abroad, the court said. Others were named formal suspects in the investigation but were not detained, including Infrastructure Minister Joao Galamba, and head the environment agency APA, Nuno Lacasta.

Persons: Antonio Costa, Prosecutors, Vitor Escaria, Diogo Lacerda Machado, Costa's, Lacerda Machado, Joao Galamba, Nuno Lacasta, Costa, Catarina Demony, Andrei Khalip, Aislinn Laing Organizations: Escaria, Infrastructure Locations: LISBON, Lisbon

Portugal's Prime Minister and Socialist Party (PS) Secretary General Antonio Costa looks on after winning the general election in Lisbon, Portugal, January 31, 2022. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLISBON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Portugal's premier Antonio Costa, who resigned this week, told foreign investors on Saturday the country was open for business and wanted to remain attractive despite an ongoing corruption probe into "green" energy projects. Costa stepped down on Tuesday over an investigation into alleged illegalities in his government's handling of lithium and hydrogen projects, as well as a large-scale data centre. The data centre project, Start Campus, has been dubbed "one of the biggest foreign direct investments in Portugal in recent decades". The company said it was cooperating with authorities but that neither the company nor any of its staff were the targets of the investigation.

Persons: General Antonio Costa, Pedro Nunes, Antonio Costa, Costa, illegalities, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Afonso Salema, Joao Galamba, Vitor Escaria, embarrasses, Catarina Demony, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Portugal's, Socialist Party, REUTERS, Rights, Savannah Resources, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Lisbon, Portugal, Rights LISBON, London, Savannah, Portuguese

REUTERS/Catarina Demony/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLISBON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Portuguese anti-mining groups have urged the government to suspend and review all lithium projects while authorities investigate alleged corruption in the handling of "green" energy deals that have led to the resignation of the prime minister. Antonio Costa resigned on Tuesday, hours after prosecutors detained five people, including his chief of staff, and named two formal suspects close to him in an investigation into lithium mining and hydrogen projects. With more than 60,000 metric tons of known lithium reserves, Portugal is Europe's biggest lithium producer, but its miners sell almost exclusively to the ceramics industry. "Lithium mining projects in Portugal must be immediately cancelled to not allow territories and populations to be affected based on corrupt and unclear processes," the groups said. In 2019, Portugal's government came under fire from lawmakers for signing a contract giving exploration rights for lithium mining to Lusorecursos when the company was only three days old.

Persons: Catarina Demony, Antonio Costa, Lusorecursos, Savannah, Nuno Lacasta, Joao Galamba, UDCB, Aislinn Laing, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Justice, Environment, APA, Savannah Resources, Infrastructure, Thomson Locations: Covas do Barroso, Portugal, Rights LISBON, Portuguese, Europe, China, London, Savannah, Barroso

[1/4] Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa attends the informal meeting of European heads of state or government, in Granada, Spain October 6, 2023. REUTERS/Juan Medina/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLISBON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned on Tuesday, just hours after prosecutors detained his chief of staff in a probe into alleged corruption in his administration's handling of lithium mining and hydrogen projects. Costa, who prosecutors said was the target of a separate investigation, announced the decision in a televised statement after meeting President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Over 40 searches were carried out on Tuesday at several government buildings, including Escaria's office and the infrastructure and environment ministries, the prosecutor's office said. "At stake may be ... facts capable of constituting crimes of malfeasance, active and passive corruption of politicians and influence peddling," the prosecutor's office said.

Persons: Antonio Costa, Juan Medina, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Costa, Rebelo de Sousa, Vitor Escaria, Joao Galamba, Nuno Lacasta, Catarina Demony, Patricia Rua, Sergio Goncalves, Andrei Khalip, Emelia Organizations: Portugal's, REUTERS, Rights, Costa's Socialists, of State, TAP, APA, Prosecutors, Thomson Locations: Granada, Spain, Rights LISBON, Portuguese, Costa, Portugal, Sines

☆ Portugal's PM Costa resigns over corruption investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned on Tuesday amid an investigation into alleged irregularities committed by his majority Socialist administration in handling lithium mining and hydrogen projects in the country. Costa announced the decision in a televised statement after meeting President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Prosecutors earlier on Tuesday named Infrastructure Minister Joao Galamba as a formal suspect and detained Costa's chief of staff. Costa he was "fully available to cooperate" with the justice system after prosecutors said he was also the target of an investigation. "The dignity of the functions of prime minister is not compatible with any suspicion about his integrity, his good conduct and even less with the suspicion of the practice of any criminal act," Costa told reporters.

Persons: Antonio Costa, Costa, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Joao Galamba, Costa's Organizations: Portugal's, Prosecutors

☆ Portugal to define size of TAP stake for sale once proposals submitted - minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Sergio Goncalves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LISBON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Portugal will decide on the size of the stake it will sell in flag carrier TAP once competitors present their proposals, Infrastructure Minister Joao Galamba told a parliamentary committee on Thursday. The Portuguese government plans to sell at least 51% of TAP as part of a plan to privatise the struggling state-owned airline. He said that the government will appoint financial advisors soon and plans to approve the privatisation by year-end, with the process concluding by mid-2024. The airline's privatisation has attracted interest from Lufthansa (LHAG.DE), Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) and British Airways owner IAG (ICAG.L). Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Charlie Devereux and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Joao Galamba, Galamba, Sergio Goncalves, Charlie Devereux, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: TAP, Infrastructure, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, British Airways, IAG, Thomson Locations: LISBON, Portugal, Portuguese, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Air, Europe

☆ Portugal's president to address the nation after rift with PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LISBON, May 4 (Reuters) - Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will address the nation at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Thursday, a spokesperson for the presidency said, after his rift with Prime Minister Antonio Costa increased the risk of a political crisis. The conservative president had made clear he wanted Galamba out and said he disagreed with Costa's decision after previously having warned that he could disband parliament if the government lost credibility. Costa's Socialists won an outright parliamentary majority in January 2022, but his third government in a row has been plagued by instability, although analysts see it surviving - for now at least. More than 10 ministers and secretaries of state have left their posts in the past year, at least two of them linked to scandals at airline TAP. Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei KhalipOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LISBON, May 2 (Reuters) - Portugal's infrastructure minister submitted his resignation on Tuesday as a scandal around state-owned airline TAP widened, just four months after his predecessor resigned over the same issue, but the prime minister said he would keep him in the job. Galamba's predecessor, Pedro Nuno Santos, resigned in December in the wake of a scandal involving an irregular severance payment to a former executive board member of TAP. Ourmières-Widener has since been fired after an official inspection found that the severance was illegal. On Sunday, Costa said that neither he nor any member of the government had given orders to SIS to recover the laptop. ($1 = 0.9089 euros)Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Catarina Demony; Editing by Andrei KhalipOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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