In another exclusive report on the ongoing repercussions of the BPN banking scandal, Correio da Manhã reveals the intrigue behind the scenes at the white elephant of Albufeira Marina.
Marinapart – the marina’s owning company, controlled by constructors Irmãos Cavaco – reportedly owes €72.6 million to the state through two public societies that inherited the ‘toxic credits’ of beleaguered BPN bank.
To try and find a way of paying, Marinapart – presided over by António Cavaco – is negotiating with creditors for special ‘PER’ (Plano Especial de Revitalização) revitalisation funding, claims Correio da Manhã.
For this to work, Parvalorem – one of the societies handling toxic credits – has to be in favour and thus far it is reportedly remaining tight-lipped.
According to CM, Marinapart owes €68.1 million to Parvalorem. Added to this is a further €4.5 million of credits conceded by BPN Crédito, now being overseen by the public society Parparticipadas.
Questioned over Marinapart’s unpaid credits and PER funding negotiations however, Parvalorem was categoric. “We will not make any comments nor give any opinions on the process, particularly when the PER in question has not been voted on by the creditors,” a spokesman is quoted as telling the paper.
Meanwhile, the newspaper paints a sorry picture of business in Albufeira Marina.
João Ferreira Amaral, Marinapart’s administrator, is reported as saying the total investment came to €37 million – €25 million on the marina itself and a further €12 million on the carpark. Rentability? “Zero” was his answer.
Of the 34 commercial outlets available, only 11 are operating today and the situation has persisted for the best part of a decade.
“We always thought the marina would have more movement,” Bella Itália food chain manager Bráulio Bernardino told the newspaper. “But we have been here for 10 years and the truth is that it is very weak. In the winter, we close for several months.”
“If Albufeira Marina had been built five years earlier, we wouldn’t be in the situation we are today,” said João Ferreira Amaral.
PER funding was a scheme devised by the government in 2012, designed to bailout viable businesses that had run into financial difficulties. The scheme was billed as an economic revolution that would safeguard thousands of jobs.
