The former CEO of Globalia Javier Hidalgo assured the Senate that he only met the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, in an event with more businessmen and ruled out that there was preferential treatment in the public aid that Air Europa received during the pandemicbecause it was “the worst loan, with the strictest and most unfavorable conditions of those granted in Europe”.
This is what was expressed this Friday during his appearance before the commission of inquiry into all the ramifications of the “Koldo case”, in which refused to answer to questions from the groups and limited himself to presenting some “clarifications” before offering senators the documentation on the subject that he provided in certain files.
“It is false that I met Pedro Sánchez, except for the one we had with 25 businessmen,” said Hidalgo, who also stressed that it was “false” to have declared in front of the judge of the National Court, where he has already appeared. declared as a witness that he did not remember meeting the wife of the president of the government, Begoña Gómez, “since that was not the question asked.”
Hidalgo said “the tortuously worded question” in that statement “was whether he remembered who he was on June 24, 2020.” I don’t know if you ladies and gentlemen remember what anyone did four years ago, I don’t think anyone does, not even last week,” he said.
Regarding the government’s aid to the airline at the end of 2020 due to the pandemic, Hidalgo wanted to clarify that “the operation with SEPI was not a rescue”, but rather “a loan with the strictest and most unfavorable conditions of those granted in Europe.
“And it was one of the last airlines at our level to receive aid. As of June 29 of the same year, “29 billion euros had already been granted in Europe and Globalia, which is very important, with 10,000 employees, 17 airports, 35 hotels and 500 points of sale, did not receive any euro,” he said.
The former CEO of Globalia, which owns the airline, criticized the fact that they had “the worst loan granted“. “Air Europa has been seriously harmed, you will tell me what preferential treatment we have received, except that we have been disadvantaged in absolutely everything,” he argued.
He added that this loan was authorized by seven technical departments of SEPI, attached to the Ministry of Finance, by PwC and Cuatrecasas, “meeting the requirements established by the European Commission” and “with additional requirementssuch as the takeover of the company by SEPI. “To my knowledge, no company or person in this country is asked for guarantees of this type. “I don’t know where the preferential treatment you get is,” he insisted.
Furthermore, he denied having been “on the run” and explained that Globalia had sent a letter to the PP “offering all kinds of clarification on these circumstances, without having received a response until now.”
