Following the article reproduced below published last December the Editor received the following commentary from Ulrich Bieger at Ferrostaal which we are delighted to print including his comments about 'ethical conduct.'
The offending text has been removed, but you will get the drift:
On 5 Jan 2015, at 15:21, Bieger, Ulrich (ext.) <Ulrich.Bieger.ext@ferrostaal.com>; wrote:
“Dear Sirs
On 22 December 2014 you once again published an article regarding the so-called submarine case where, once again, you have published false information.
As such, we hereby demand that, in exercising our right of response, as per the applicable Portuguese law (Law no. 2/99, dated 13 January), you publish the following text:
On 22 December 2014, AlgarveDailyNews, reporting on the insolvency of Alfamar Hotel, wrote:
"What should have been a major financial restructuring announced in October 2012 (…) ended with no deal being struck as the Germans later said they 'could not agree a price' with the hotel’s owners. (…) a condition imposed by the (…)consortium’s lawyers was that the bribery and corruption case against certain of the German consortium members should be dropped if the investment went ahead. This did not happen and two directors (…) were given suspended sentences and big fines for bribing foreign officials in Portugal and Greece."
This information is false, and the authors never tried to confirm it with the GSC, as is their legal and ethical obligation.
Indeed:
(i) In 2012, the GSC entered into an agreement to pursue the Alfamar project, but the same was subject to one condition: the viability of the project;
(ii) After spending many resources on assessing such viability, the GSC concluded that it would not be possible to pursue it due, among other reasons, to the price asked by the hotel’s owners;
(iii) Never did the GSC or any of its lawyers impose any condition on the Portuguese authorities related to bribery and corruption cases;
(iv) Evidence that this information is false is the supposed consequence stated in the article, that the Portuguese government’s refusal would have led to the conviction of two directors of Ferrostaal;
(v) Indeed, although there was a conviction, it occurred in Germany in charges brought by the German criminal authorities, and relating to an agreement entered into between FS and a German citizen; furthermore, this case was concluded before the Alfamar project even became a possibility.
The GSC repudiates the article and the constant attacks by AlgarveDailyNews.
Furthermore, please note that we are still considering eventual criminal liability as well as action before the competent authorities in respect of your ethical conduct and of the legality of your publication.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Best Regards
Ulrich Bieger
Ferrostaal GmbH
HCC
Hohenzollernstr. 24
45128 Essen
Deutschland
ulrich.bieger.ext@ferrostaal.com
www.ferrostaal.com
This was the original article:
Staff at the Alfamar hotel in Albufeira gathered outside in Olhão court in (December last year) as creditors gathered for their first formal meeting after the group which managed the business declared itself insolvent.
The Alfamar’s owners, LTI Alfamar, now Sun House, had high hopes of receiving German investment as part of the controversial contra deal agreed in relation to the purchase by Portugal’s navy of two submarines from a German consortium.
The hotel located at Praia da Falésia beach had about 70 permanent workers with up to 200 employed during high season, but only a handful were seen today protesting outside the court in defence of their jobs.
What should have been a major financial restructuring announced in October 2012 by the then Minister for the Economy Alvaro Pereira ended with no deal being struck as the Germans later said they 'could not agree a price' with the hotel’s owners.
The German deal was to involve a purported €150 million to refurbish the hotel and to turn it into a luxury resort.
Few believed that talk of grand investment scheme for the hotel was anything other than a pawn in a wider political game being played by the consortium.
The Alfamar soon should be for sale unless the owners are able to organise a successful deal to keep their creditors at bay while they restructure debt and attempt trade their way out of trouble.
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