Portugal ere zirkulu karratuaren bila joan da. Gogoratu link hau (Europako ezkerra? Missing…), eta bertan Portugalez azaltzen dena.
Pribatizazioak direla eta, gogoratu ondoko hau: pribatizazioen ‘onurak’1.
Orain eman diezaiogun begirada bat Bill Mitchell-en azken lantxoari: Monday travel and some austerity stories2.
(i) Pribatizazioaren erokeria
Argudioa hauxe izan da beti: estatuak jabetutako konpainiak eraginkor gutxiagoakoak dira modu pribatuan jabetutako konpainiak baino, merkatu diziplinaren menpe ez daudelako.
Alta, Portugaleko enpresa hornitzaile nagusia, 2011ko abenduan, saldu zitzaion txinatar enpresa bati, zeina Txinako estatuak jabetutako konpainian den3.
(ii) Beste akziodun batzuk: inbertsio pribatuko enpresa bat, Qatar estatua4…
(iii) Ondorioa: elektrizitate prezio handiagoak5 dira
(iv) Triskantza ekonomikoa eta ekologikoa: “the Espirito Santo Group disaster”
Espirito Santo Group (ESG) delakoa konpainia pribatu bat zen. 2013ko urrian iragarri zuen Portotik hurbil dauden ondartzetan 60 milioi euroko inbertsioko afera, non “the top-end-of-town would be able to monopolise a key part of the local terrain with river and ocean views.”
ESGk porrot egin zuen 2014an. Ondorioz, Portugaleko banku nagusi bat (Banco Espirito Santo) ‘erreskatatu’ behar zuten6.
Triskantza ekonomikoa apartekoa izan zen7. Ez hori bakarrik: ikus Mitchell-en lantxoaren fotografiak, ohartzeko zer nolako triskantza ekologikoak gauzatu diren lehengo ondartzetan.
1 In Friday lay day – when governments act outside the law they just change the law!: http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=31635.
Mitchell-en hitzez, “One of the strong pieces of evidence from the now long history of privatisations is that the main beneficiaries are the lawyers, stockbrokers and investment bankers who are appointed to advise and facilitate the sell-offs.
All these ‘spivs’ are once again lining up to get their hands on a share of the sell-off of the Greek assets.
I have not long ago read an interesting book – Private Island: Why Britain Now Belongs to Someone Else – by James Meek (2014), which traces the tawdry history of privatisation with an emphasis on Britain.
This UK Guardian article (August 23, 2014) – Sale of the century: the privatisation scam – which is based on the book is a worthy reflection on the myths and realities of this aspect of the neo-liberal putsch.
We learn that:
1. “Privatisation failed to demonstrate the case made by the privatisers that private companies are always more competent than state-owned ones – that private bosses, chasing the carrot of bonuses and dodging the stick of bankruptcy, will always do better than their state-employed counterparts.”
2. “Privatisation failed to make firms compete or give customers more choice – said to be the canonical virtues of privatisation.”
3. “The selling off of Britain’s municipal housing without replacing it was supposed to be a triumphant coming together of the individual and free market principles. It actually ended up as one of the most glaring examples of market failure in postwar history.”
3 Ingelesez: “Privatisation madness – Portuguese government sell its electricity company to the Chinese government
Remember all the arguments about how state-owned companies are less efficient than privately-owned and run companies because there is no share market discipline.
These arguments were at the forefront of the neo-liberal privatisation scams. The main electricity provider in Portugal – Energias de Portugal – which is also one of the Portugal’s largest business groups was finally sold off in December 2011 to the Chinese Three Gorges Corporation for the measly sum of €2.69 billion (acquired the Government’s remaining 21.35 per cent share).
Need I remind you that the Three Gorges Corporation is a “state-owned Chinese power company”.”
4 Ingelesez: “The other main shareholder (10.13 per cent) is the ‘Capital Group’, which is a private US investment banking firm. Oppidum (7.19 per cent) and Black Rock (5.06 per cent) are other significant shareholders.
Another shareholder (2.27 per cent) is the – Qatar Investment Authority – which is owned by the State of Qatar.”
5 Ingelesez: “The result of the final privatisation: higher power prices.
Portuguese electricity prices are now among the highest in Europe and well above the average. For example, in Lisbon (as at November 2013), it costs 26.99 euro cents per KWh relative to the average of 20.34 cents per KWh (Source).
Price rises under the newly privatised EDP have been well ahead of the inflation rate, although there have been some concessions made (under Government direction) to so-called ‘social tariffs’ which allow those on low or zero incomes to receive cheaper power.
To (over)-compensate for the social tariffs, EDP has hiked rates above the low income threshold significantly.
The reality is that Portuguese electricity is very expensive relative to real income levels and the workers are now suffering from the squeeze.
Eurostat data shows that between 27 per cent of Portuguese are unable to heat their home adequately.”
6 Ingelesez: “The Espírito Santo Group collapsed in 2014 and the flow-on effects “led to a state rescue of Portugal’s second-largest bank in August” 2014, using bailout money from the European Commission and the IMF.
Reuters subsequently reported (December 11, 2014) that the company:
… was a financially fragile “house of cards” for years and its chief knew of irregularities there … the group’s financial situation was calamitous … “
7 Ingelesez: “The Banco Espirito Santo was partly owned by ESP but was heavily exposed, through a complex web of companies to other ESP members (ESP being the holding company for 300 other companies operating across 50 countries).
During the inquiry, it was revealed that the boss of the Banco Espiro Santo has been “manipulating accounts” to conceal debt exposures (Source).
It was also alleged during the inquiry that “the financial controller of ESP was probably also aware of the alleged manipulation of accounts” and ESP was locked into a “debt spiral” that it could no longer service once things went south.
The collapse reverberated throughout the financial markets with creditors as far as Angola and Brazil losing heavily.”
