The agreement reached with the Viana do Castelo Shipyard last December under the construction of the ships “Atlântida” and “Anticiclone” was “indubitably a good deal for the region.”
This is the assessment of the Regional Secretary for the Economy, Vasco Cordeiro, which was conveyed at the Regional Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, during a press release from the Government addressed at the parliament members.
For the Regional Secretary, the agreement is clearly favourable to the interests of the Azores and despite the attempts of some opposition parties; its result does not allow “any kind of creativity or fancy accounting.”
If the Shipyards have received the amount of 37,312,500 million Euros in due course as an advance payment for the construction of the two ships, it is a fact that the Region has agreed to receive 40 million Euros, of which 32 million Euros have already been paid, mentioned Vasco Cordeiro.
The Regional Secretary also considered that there are other things that “confirm the appropriateness and validity of this agreement,” such as the issues regarding the time of a final court decision.
As an example of the validity of the agreement, Vasco Cordeiro reminded the fact that, after eight months on the date when the protective order was established, the competent court to prosecute the matter was still being discussed.
The Secretary also added that following the agreement that was signed, approved and ratified by arbitral award, and announced on December 23, 2009, the construction of the ships “Atlântida” and “Anticiclone” is “a closed a matter for the Government Azores.”
Nevertheless, Vasco Cordeiro criticised the attitude of the PSD in this process, accusing that party to have been dangerously close to sacrifice the interests of the region solely for the purpose of embarrassing the Government.”
The Regional Secretary also said that, by the initiative of the Government, the work to develop an integrated and comprehensive study on the maritime transport in the Azores and there are also ongoing projects for the new vessels that will replace the "Cruzeiro das Ilhas” and the “Cruzeiro do Canal.”
According to Vasco Cordeiro, the Government has also settled the public service obligations for maritime transport in the Central Group, increasing in routes and frequency in order to “demonstrate the potential of this type of transport for the development of the regional economy.”