Amadeu Albergaria rejected the interpretation that, by ceasing to hold a capital of 50.11% of the company and now owning 99.89% of it, the State is centralizing the Metro's public transport service. "The rebalancing of the Metro do Porto's capital structure was the solution found to resolve the company's historical debt problem", declared the Feira social-democrat mayor to the Lusa agency. "In our understanding, this should not be confused with centralization, nor does it go against the process of decentralization of competences from the State to the municipalities. The AMP, in terms of governance, maintains the same position", he added. Contacted by Lusa on the same subject, the remaining local authorities in the southern region of the AMP -- Arouca (PS), Espinho (PS), Oliveira de Azeméis (PS), São João da Madeira (PS) and Vale de Cambra (CDS-PP) -- did not comment on the issue. At issue is the operation announced on Thursday that allowed the Metro do Porto's debt to the Directorate-General of the Treasury and Finance to be transformed into capital. With the appropriation by the State, an accumulated debt of over 4.2 billion euros was reduced to 210 thousand euros. In this process, the AMP, which until then held 35.22% of the company's capital, saw its stake reduced to 0.07%. The Sociedade de Transportes Coletivos do Porto, whose capital is held by six municipalities (Porto, Gaia, Matosinhos, Maia, Gondomar and Valongo), also went from holding 14.68% of the Metro to just 0.03%. In total, the public entities in the Porto metropolitan area held 49.9% of the company and are now restricted to 0.1%. The remaining 0.1% of the Metro's capital is held by CP - Comboios de Portugal. Read Also: Metro do Porto concludes first tunnel of the Pink Line to open in 2025 (Portuguese version)