Aveiro City Council creates new municipal company for the fairgrounds and closes AveiroExpo

The Aveiro City Council will set up a new municipal company to manage the Fairs and Exhibitions Park and extinguish the current AveiroExpo, according to a decision approved on Thursday.

The share capital of the new company, of 150 thousand euros, is 90% held by the Chamber of Aveiro and the remaining 10% by the Intermunicipal Community of the Region of Aveiro (CIRA).

In the current company that will be extinguished, the Associação Industrial do Distrito de Aveiro (AIDA) was the Aveiro City Council’s partner in share capital.

AveiroExpo accumulated losses in 2012 and 2013, legally imposing its dissolution, due to legal imperative, which will now be fulfilled.

According to a press release from the municipality, after consulting the Court of Auditors, the option was taken to directly transition the management of the Aveiro Fair and Exhibition Park from AveiroExpo ME to a new company.

“The municipal executive decided to approve the constitution of the local company Aveiro ParqueExpo, Empresa Municipal, Sociedade Anónima”, including the respective statutes and other documentation”, informs the same source.

The justification for creating a new municipal company, instead of internalizing services as the council did with other municipal companies that it closed down, lies in its viability.

The financial reports from AveiroExpo’s recent years prove this, with the exception of 2020 and 2021, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, claims the executive led by Ribau Esteves.

The decision is also based on a technical study that “endorsed the economic-financial viability and economic rationality, having identified quality gains, through a business entity”.

As for the new company, the Chamber of Aveiro will also invest in holding cultural events at the “Aveiro Fair and Exhibition Park”.