The government defends its veto to the acquisition of Talgo by Ganz-MaVag, “for reasons of protection of the strategic interests and national security of Spain”. The Executive insists that the operation “would entail risks to ensuring national security and public order“, but does not give details on the reasons that would have led him not to authorize the entry of the capital of the Hungarian company into the Spanish capital. “The information contained in the file has been declared classified,” affirm sources from the Ministry of Economy.
Moncloa relies on several reports prepared by the CNI that would warn against The Hungarian consortium’s connection with the Russian government led by Vladimir Putin. Asked about this, Foreign Affairs chief José Manuel Albares avoided commenting – in an interview with ETP– hiding behind the confidential nature of the analysis which yesterday led the Council of Ministers to officially disavow the operation.
A few months ago, the Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, had already warned of the risk that the acquisition would pose to Spanish interests. “We have the necessary tools to channel this type of proposals and foreign investments, even those that come from other EU countries. We have the necessary instrument to make decisions with legal certainty“Our legal framework is balanced. It favors the arrival of foreign investments, but allows to protect these strategic sectors. We are analyzing the operation,” he said in an interview with elEconomista.es last April.
The Hungarian group announced yesterday that it would take “all legal action at its disposal”, both in Spain and in the European Union, to defend its bid for Talgo. Ganz-MaVag’s management had already said at a press conference held in early July that, in the event that the government ended up rejecting the operation, which ultimately happened, there would be several legal options to appeal.
This potential lawsuit against the state comes on top of the warning already issued by the minority shareholders’ association Aemec, which believes that this veto deprives shareholders of the possibility of freely selling their shares, which is why it will also appeal the government’s decision.
Talgo shares opened higher on the stock market this Wednesday and at 12:30 they were up more than 1%, at 3.93 euros per share. They are doing so after the setback suffered yesterday by the listed company. The shares of the Spanish railway company closed on Tuesday down 8.72%, at 3.92 euros, in a day marked by the veto.
