The first vice president of the Government and acting Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, responded this Saturday to the demand of the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, that the purchase by the Saudi STC of 9.9% of Telefónica be stopped. This is the umpteenth confrontation between both ministers. In this case, Calviño has responded from New Delhi, where she is participating in the G20 summit, that “all necessary mechanisms will be applied to guarantee the protection of Spain’s strategic interests.” Díaz said on Friday that she had informed the acting Minister of Economy of her rejection of this operation and warned her that the Executive “cannot consent to it.”
Calviño refused to comment on the “exchanges” of opinions between her and the Sumar leader, but emphasized that Spain is “a serious country” that will analyze this operation “with maximum rigor.” «That is what we are going to do, analyze the operation with the utmost rigor. “We will make the appropriate decisions and activate the appropriate mechanisms to protect the general interest of the country and this strategic company,” she said.
The economic minister assured that the “strategic role” that Telefónica has in “the defense and security of Spain” will be taken into account, but also highlighted that “foreign investment is very important for the economic growth and technological modernization of our country.” ».
The Saudi crown prince is also at the G20 summit, but according to Calviño he has not had the opportunity to speak with him about the entry operation of the Saudi group STC into the Spanish multinational. The one who does keep her “punctually informed”, in his words, is the president of Telefónica, José María Álvarez Pallete.
The entry of the Saudi group STC as the first shareholder of Telefónica has unleashed a new war between the second vice president and acting Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, with the first vice president and acting Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño. Díaz considers that the Government “cannot consent” to the operation continuing. “My opinion is that we cannot allow this operation to continue. “This is what I have sent to the economic vice president of the acting Government and that is how I am going to defend it,” Díaz assured this Friday. «Telefónica is a strategic company for our country. And as such a strategic company and with the management of what is surely the most important thing in our lives, which is data, my opinion is that we cannot allow this operation to continue,” she stressed. In most of Díaz’s previous confrontations with Calviño she won the first, as happened with the labor reform.
Harder tone
The tone of part of the Government hardens and its misgivings about the operation grow as the days go by. The acting Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, warned on Friday that she will study “very rigorously” the operation by which STC wants to take over 9.9% of the Spanish telecommunications operator and become its first shareholder.
The intervention of Minister Robles is not trivial because Telefónica is a key company for Defense in terms of networks, systems or cybersecurity and, furthermore, it is in a strategic sector for the country. So Robles has not used half measures in his statements: “The priority for us is that the national defense is always absolutely protected.” “Precisely the regulations that Spain has wanted to be very strict when there are foreign investments that could affect the defense.” and to security,” said Robles.
#Calviño #replies #Díaz #confrontation #Saudi #entry #Telefónica