Serra says that "cartel is not synonymous with crime"
The former governor of São Paulo, who was summoned to testify about contracts held by the state with companies that participated in the subway cartel scheme, said that one cannot "look at it from a moral point of view"; "The companies collude," minimized the Senate candidate; according to the politician, cartels "are a very common phenomenon throughout the world."
247 - Brazilian Senate candidate José Serra, from the PSDB party, downplayed on Monday the Federal Police investigation into the cartel between companies that provided services in the train and subway sector in the state of São Paulo.
"Cartel is not synonymous with crime," said the politician. "You can't look at it from a moral standpoint. Companies coordinate," he added.
Serra was summoned to testify in the case concerning contracts he held with companies that were part of the scheme when he was governor of São Paulo. The Federal Police want to know if he favored the multinational companies CAF and Alstom in a bidding process.
When questioned about the monopoly of media outlets in the country, at an event with business leaders, the former governor stated:
"You didn't ask me this, but I can say this to the media: 'cartel' has become synonymous with crime, but a cartel is nothing more and nothing less than a monopoly. These are companies that agree on a price, not that they set the price. This is a very common phenomenon worldwide."