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"Portugal loses tax revenue but JM pays the same," headlines Portuguese financial daily Jornal de Negócios following the announcement by the Jerónimo Martins group (JM) that the holding company, which controls, among others, Pingo Doce supermarkets, is transferring part of its capital to the Netherlands. The announcement has revived the relocation debate, with political parties and posters to social networks accusing JM of disloyality to the country at a time when it is going through the most serious crisis it has ever faced.
What attracts Portuguese businesses to the Netherlands, the Lisbon daily writes, is lower taxes, easier access to credit and a reputation for stability that Portugal does not enjoy. Another daily, Diário de Notícias, adds that of the 20 companies listed on the Portuguese stock market's blue chip PSI-20 index, 17 are already settled in the Netherlands.
In a leader article, Jornal de Negócios notes that-
... what is hard to swallow is not that [JM CEO] Soares Dos Santos has broken with his past in Portugal – he hasn't and continues to pay taxes here. It's that he has broken with its future. Since the conditions for growth no longer exist here, he has decided to invest elsewhere, to seek profits and create jobs outside of Portugal. [...] But investing abroad is not a betrayal. It is just an abdication of responsibility.
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