António Cotrim / Lusa
It hired Luís Montenegro and Spinumviva for nearly 200,000 euros in 2022 for a restructuring of the company and, since the current Prime Minister has shown interest in leading the PSD, has been one of the party’s main financiers.
According to the newspaper, BARROS RODRIGUES FAMILY donated more than 30 thousand euros to the PSD since 2018. most donations – more than 27,000 euros – were made from 2021the year when Luís Montenegro was hired to restructure the company.
Already in March, the observer was advancing that the Gasolineira was responsible for paying Montenegro and Spinumviva in 2022 for a two -year work.
Jorge Barros Rodriguesa businessman linked to a network of gas stations in Braga, will have offered a contract to Montenegro fundamental for the creation of the Spinumviva controversy, which would register in 2022 a peak of billing thanks, largely, to this entrepreneur: 50% of revenues From the company created by Montenegro came from this collaboration.
Between 2018 and 2023, six family members contributed a total of 30,500 euros to the party, 27,000 of these euros were delivered from 2021.
The son of this entrepreneur, João Rodrigueshe is councilor and current candidate for the presidency of Braga City Council. It is among the donors, as well as his wife, brothers, sister -in -law and father -in -law. His wife and collaborator of Spinumviva, Inês Patrícia Varajão Borges, also donated in 2021 (a thousand euros) while the father contributed 10,000.
João Rodrigues confesses to the Express that “supports, how and when it can, the PSD.”
Braga and the PSD: a love story
These donations were carried out to both the national structure and the local sections of the party, especially the Braga – The main center of donations to the PSD, with several donors later appointed to public office – but allegedly without direct relationship with specific leaders or concrete candidacies.
The analysis of the data of the entity of the accounts and political financing (ECFP) carried out by the weekly Expresso reveals that Braga is the main financial bastion of the PSD in recent years.
About 43% of donors that contributed values equal to or over a thousand euros between 2022 and 2023 are linked to the Braga district. More specifically, reports the newspaper, 26 of the identified donors are from the municipality of Braga, where Hugo SoaresPSD Secretary General and Parliamentary Leader.
Among the largest donors of Braga are also names that later assumed great public office. Américo Afonso, current president of the Braga Hospital, and Rui Sá Morais, administrator of the Casa da Música, each donated 5,000 euros to the PSD in 2022. Sandra Cerqueira, CEO of Urban Transportes de Braga, and Carlos Duarte Oliveira e Silva, from Invest Braga, donated 6,000 and 2,500 euros, respectively.
Although it is not illegal for private donors to occupy public positions, the temporal coincidence between financial support and appointments can generate distrust, especially when it comes to public entities or companies mostly funded by the State.
