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Secretary of State for Energy’s father is a consultant to EDP

edpFaced with the observation today that his Dad occupies a senior in Portugal's premier energy company, the Secretary of State for Energy declined to offer any comment as to potential conflicts of interest.

After an unimpressive political career, Artur Trindade became a consultant for EDP in 2013, a move that has been pointed out in a complaint by the businessman Manuel Champalimaud.

Faced with this accusation, the Secreatry of State declined to comment and his father promises to supply a written response.

An official source at EDP confirmed that the father of the Secretary of State for Energy, also called Artur Trindade, has been an external consultant to EDP since 2013, as part of a special committee created in 2012.

"EDP believes that his long municipal experience is an asset in the long-term relationships established between local authorities and the group," said the official EDP source.

Businessman and investor Manuel Champalimaud said today that "the father of the Secretary of State is a new director at EDP."

At the end of the general meeting of energy supply company REN, in which the shareholders approved the 2014 accounts and its new governing bodies, Champalimaud criticised the government for its taxation policies for the energy sector which penalised companies and did not allow them to raise prices to cover the amounts paid out.

He also has complained of the conflict of interests in having the Secretary of State's father in a powerful position in the industry for which his son is in charge of developing policy and regulation. 

Artur Trindade was the PSD mayor of Porto de Mos council, and the general secretary of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP), a position he left in late 2013 for a happy career in the heady world of energy supply.

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Comments  

-14 #3 dw 2015-04-20 17:46
The revolving door between politics and big business is not exactly unique to Portugal. It's just the same in the USA and UK.

As for the generational direction of nepotism, you may have it the wrong way around: More likely that EDP arranged the son's appointment in the Government. Politicians are very much the junior partners in the relationship with big corporations.
-11 #2 Arnold Williams 2015-04-18 18:47
This is just the tip of the iceberg.

In northern Europe there is a branch of academic research called 'significant others'.

Those who are related in some way through say bloodline, religion, profession, neighbourhood, school etc etc It is seen as a novelty to make the connections and the links.

It is totally irrelevant in southern Europe. And just the opposite.

You cannot get anywhere near the heady heights of being a VIP, wither nationally as this father and son are or just locally in the municipal.

But this also brings out the vacuousness of Portuguese politics. That no-one saw any conflict of interest until this geezers nose was put out of joint.

And it will change nothing in this bandit run country.
-12 #1 Peter Booker 2015-04-18 07:21
Nepotism applies to looking after your nephew, or son. There is a sense that it applies to someone of a younger generation. Can you use it in the sense of finding a job for your dad?

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